THE TEMPTATIONS IN A MELLOW MOOD TML 11068 (-68) UK MONO

Part of Barry Gordy's attempt to broaden the audience for his labels by letting some of Motown's big names do numbers from the common American songbook. "The Supremes Sings Rodgers And Hart" posted earlier was in the same campaign. I wasn't totally impressed with that - the faithfully made orchestrations cleary showed they weren't up to the competition from the originals. IMO this is a lot better. The musical arrangements are both more sparse and varied - from string driven ballads to up-tempo and jazz. Although the style is similar they're not trying to copy, but make it their own. Mostly that has to do with the vocals - the leads goes from brightest countertenor to deepest bass and background varies with the songs different expressions. These guys could really sing and that's what makes the album. I like the jazzier numbers best - "A Taste Of Honey", "I'm Ready For Love" and "That's Life". The original Motown mono mix sounds good as always. Sales were healthy in US - topped the R&B list and reached #13 on Billboard - while it didn't chart at all in UK. Original 1967 US issue on Gordy (GLP/GLPS-924). First UK had label as shown here and laminated flip/back cover. (TÖMÖ*) (ÄIÖ*)

COLOSSEUM/VALENTYNE SUITE VO1 (-69) UK

For group background, other albums and related stuff - check earlier posts here http://monolover.blogspot.se/search?q=colosseum . I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but since my own opinions about the LP shifted through the years I'm having a hard time getting it right once and for all. Back then it meant a lot to me. First contact was "The Kettle", played at a local disco early 1970. I couldn't get the song out of my head and bought the album for my next allowance. Everything with it was intriguing - cover design, label (it was the first on Vertigo swirl) and of course the music. The tunes were rather complicated, but still beautiful and with just enough rock'n'roll to attract the seventeen y.o. As the group developed the coming two years I followed every step through new settings and expressions. And even if I reckoned some of the later stuff downright magic, this was for a long time my favorite. However today I don't find it as exciting as "Daughter Of Time" or the live album. That doesn't mean I dislike it, just the group got even better from then on and rapidly moved from excellence to perfection. That said - two tracks from this will always be on my Colosseum top list. "The Kettle" with its remarkable flow and "The Machine Demands A Sacrifice" beacause of Litherland's and Greenslade's emotive vocals. Even if it's not their absolutely best, it still trounces most other albums of the period. US Dunhill issues of their first two LP:s followed a totally different agenda. 1969 releases also in Holland and Germany. First UK had B-side label as shown here - with "A Philips Record Product" on bottom. It came in a thick fold/out cover and "swirl" inner sleeve. (CÖL*)(WLÖ*)

SMALL FACES/FROM THE BEGINNING ND 153 (-69) GERMANY

German version of the UK Decca "From The Beginning" compilation, issued through the "Musik Fur Alle" serie. While the original came in mono only, this has all tracks as fake stereo and lots of added reverb. The MFA 1:st Who album I posted earlier had undergone the same treatment, but sounded OK at parts. This doesn't. Most of it comes through unnatural or lo-fi. Probably that has to do with the original tapes. The UK first was a mix of single cuts, some with alternate versions, and previously unreleased material. Many of those had really bad audio already on the mono issue and the tampering here didn't make it better. Two or three of the tracks do sound bigger, having a wider range than the mono's, but it's not enough to make it all good. Matrix no.s are stamped UK type (ZAL 7881/2 - X). First with label as shown here and fully laminated cover. (SXÅH*) (GÖXÄ*)

PROCOL HARUM/A SALTY DOG SLRZ 1009 (-69) UK - A&M 2073 (-71) MONO BRAZIL

During eleven years 1967-77 they made nine original studio albums and there wasn't a bad cut on any of them - classic songs carrying delightful melodies and poetic lyrics, performed with lots of feeling. The production was sometimes slightly experimental, but never as an end in itself and always on the spot. This their third LP follows the same path - ten top numbers overflowing with joy. They're all favorites, but if I have to pick two - "The Devil Came From Kansas" and "All This And More". At the time for first release EMI had started to abolish double issues and this never came as UK mono. However the Brazil mono shown here gives a hint what that would have been like. While the stereo is fine, natural and revealing, the mono has other advantages. It's bigger and bouncier, yet cleaner with very good separation. Building on some kind of fold-down, although not straight on. The UK issue wasn't a perfect compatible and hitting the mono button on that makes it muddy at parts, but this sounds all clean and clear. Maybe it could be explained by the mono was cut from other tapes than UK, or engraved with different use of equipment. In any case it's something else. Both labels shown here are 1:st issues. The UK had fully laminated cover and the Brazilian common plastic covered sheets. (SÖMI*)(PRÖX*)(RÄZ*) (CPYC*)(MÅW*)

SAVOY BROWN/BLUES ROOTS ROOTS 7 (-76) UK

IMO the least exciting in the Decca ROOTS serie. Eight tracks from the period 1968-72 - three '45 A-sides and five from UK LP:s. All are stereo, even the ones originally issued on mono single, probably due to they were fold-downs in the first place. On here are the album versions of those tracks. So there's no unissued stuff or rare edits, just a straight on stereo collection. If you got the LP:s it doesn't add anything, but if you don't and want a good and resonably priced vinyl introduction to the groups best period with fine audio, it's recommended. First UK had label as shown here and laminated cover. (DRÖK*)(SÄVX*)

BLACK CAT BONES/BARBED WIRE SANDWICH SDN 15 (-70) UK

 One of the better from the Decca/Deram Nova serie. It didn't sell on release and was frowned upon by critics, which led to the group breaking up shortly after and this being their only as "Black Cat Bones". However through the decades it's been rediscovered and revalued and is now by many considered a very enjoyable blues/rock album. There's a lot written about it on the net already. I'm not going to repeat that, but here's a good link for group background - http://www.alexgitlin.com/bcb.html . Well worth noticing is Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke were members, but left to form "Free" just before the recording and the band also at occation had worked as backing for US blues artists visiting England. A history that could explain why a few of the tracks - e.g. "Chauffeur" and "Save My Love" - sounds a lot like "Free", only much rawer and earthier, while others - like "Sylversters Blues", "Coming Back" and "Tell Me Baby" - more reminds of black electric blues. The longest track - "Good Lookin' Woman" - has stubborn flashy guitars all trough, not unlike some of Claptons work on the "Bluesbreakers" LP, making it my favorite track. Produced by Dave Hitchcock. The recording is simple with few overdubs, probably made on four channels. A few of the cuts sounds limited, but most comes out big and natural with a live feeling. It's raunchy and unbridled with lots of emotions shining through - just as I like it. Also issued in mono (DN 15), but this late with a perfectly compatible stereo I assume that is a fold-down. First US on P.I.P. records (PIP 6809) with same cover and tracking. German on Decca Nova (PD 12019). First CD on "See For Miles" 1994 (SEECD 405). The Japanese 2006 re-mastered CD (UICY 39179) came with a paper sleeve replica of the UK cover and stereo label design. First UK had label as shown here and laminated cover with stereo/mono die-cut hole on rear. (DÄN*)

                                                                                 

                                                                             

                                                                           

                    
                                                                           

                                                                              

 

CLIFF BENNETT AND THE REBEL ROUSERS/DRIVIN' YOU WILD REG 1039 (-66) UK EXPORT MONO

For the group's beginnings, relations and early adventures check  post on their first album https://monolover.blogspot.com/2013/03/cliff-bennett-and-rebel-rousers-pmc.html . One of the best debutes from the UK r&b scene in the sixties - all played with great skill, top vocals and lots of feeling. This follow-up shows a change of style. R&b is still the foundation, but the superstructure more blue eyed soul. It reminds a lot of early Manfred Mann or contemporary Tom Jones, Alan Price and Georgie Fame. The performance is top notch and Bennett's vocals as good as ever, still a little too polished to my taste and almost anonymous at parts. It's a good album, but I miss the edge. It seems EMI didn't have full confidence in the material. Both the UK domestic release and the export came on low-budget labels. In England issued on Music For Pleasure (MFP 1121) and for the rest of Europe on Regal. Mostly the Regal exports came years later than the originals, but this was made at the same time - using the same matrixes with a totally different cover. Issued in mono only. First export press had label as shown here, thick unflexible vinyl and laminated flip/back cover. (ÖXÄP*)(SXS*)

KEBNEKAISE/II SRS 4618 (-73) SWEDEN

Earlier I've posted a bunch of English folk rock albums. Now it's time for one with Swedish folk rock and that's something rather different. Although the origin of the branches may have been similar, Britain early became a part of the European cultural life, adopting song models from church music and common ballads floroushing on the continent in medieval times - melodic structures still influential to modern western music. Swedish culture was isolated from Europe for a very long time, especially the northern parts, there was less amalgamation and the ancient melodic structures remained in some form. With modern terminology they have been descibed as building on an "harmonic minor scale", but often there are no fixation to major or minor. Originally all numbers were instrumentals, inherited through the centuries within a special class of musicians - "spelemän" - in older times wanderers and outcasts, sometimes believed to be in possession of magical powers with the ability to spellbound people through their music. One song on this album "Horgalåten" is surrounded by a legend that it was written by The Devil himself and as he played it the people couldn't stop dancing, but kept on till only skeletons remained. It's a remain from a time when the music itself was a direct interpreter of feelings - no words needed. Four of the songs builds on those old folk tunes, the fifth is self-penned in the same style. The backing is more psych/prog than ordinary folk rock with prominent bass/drum, bongos, fiddle and assorted effects. Main melodies, originally played on "key harp" (Nordic variation of the lira) or fiddle, are transformed to electric guitar. Some of the licks seems impossible, but lead guitarist Kenny Håkansson manage just fine. It's a very attractive balance between emotional traditional tunes and cool experimental prog. Recording is quite simple with few overdubs and the audio top notch. Issued by the independent label Silence Records. On CD 2001 (SRSCD 3608). First press with label as shown here and thin glossy cover. (SCÄ*)(CCÖ*)(NÅY*)

THEM/ROCK ROOTS ROOTS 3 (-76) UK (MONO + STEREO)

Another top compilation from the Decca low budget "Rock Roots" serie. Side one has two album tracks and five UK non-LP single A:s and B:s - all with original mono mixes. Side two consists of six cuts for the first time on UK LP - the Dutch mono '45 mix of "The Story Of Them parts 1+2" and five previously unreleased recordings of which one - "Mighty Like A Rose" - is true stereo, the remaining four re-channeled. These existed in mono and that usually would have been the choice for an issue like this. I can only guess why they picked the four fakes instead. Probably the Americans had the only tapes with those songs, the re-channeling was made for the contemporary US stereo compilation "The Story Of Them" (London LC 50001) and just sent over to UK Decca as they were. In any case it's all fine. A bunch of rare cuts and mixes from a classic group with great audio. Most have shown up on CD later, but if you prefer vinyl LP this is about the only place for some of them. First press had label as shown here and laminated cover. (DRÖK*) (VMÖ*)

TEMPEST/LIVING IN FEAR ILPS 9267 (-74) UK

After Colosseum breaking up 1971 the members spread in different directions - Dick Heckstall-Smith went solo, Chris Farlowe joined Atomic Rooster, Clem Clemson joined Humble Pie and Dave Greenslade started the group "Greenslade" with Tony Reeves. John Hiseman and Mark Clarke stayed together as a rythm section and founded Tempest together with Alan Holdsworth and Paul Williams. After the first album Holdsworth and Williams left and this second and last by the group was completed by a trio, consisting of Hiseman, Clarke and new guitarist Ollie Halsall. I'm a big fan of Colosseum and about everything they did - a magic mix of good songs, progressive thinking and top notch performance, built on a solid melodic jazz foundation. This is a hard rock album made a few years later, but you can hear echoes from the past - well written songs that hits your heart, combined with odd harmonies and rythmic gaming. As hard rock it's outstanding, sometimes reminding of early Uriah Heep or Led Zeppelin, but more complex with a unique identity. Many of the songs have become favorites, like "Stargazer" and "Funeral Empire". I also love the "Paperback Writer" cover - faithful to the original, but faster and heavier with lots of howling guitars. Produced by Gary Bron with big and clear audio. Not issued in USA before the 1999 CD (Castle Music CMACD 516). First UK had label as shown here, thick vinyl and matt die-cut cover with glossy picture/credit inner. (CÖL*)(PRÖZ*)

THE WHO - THE BEAT ND 127 (-69) GERMANY

Second German version of their debute, issued through the low-budget serie "Musik Fur Alle", with different label design and exclusive cover. While the first (Decca BLK 86 002-P) used the same mono tapes as the UK release, this is fake stereo made from the same source. However the re-channeling is very carefully done and pushing the mono button hardly make any difference other than slight change of width. In comparison to UK mono there's more reverb and the sound somewhat brighter. I've never liked the Brunswick version, find it partly dull. Always prefered the US Decca mono wich comes through a lot clearer. Not a fan of fake stereo's or added reverbs, but pushing the mono button on this makes most of the cuts rather enjoyable listening, in fact more reminding of US Decca than UK Brunswick. A good alternative - at least to my ears. (WÖH*) (GÖXÄ*)

BEE GEES/TRAFALGAR 2383 052 (-71) UK

After a short break-up during which the group splitting was announced, the brothers were back together in the studio with new guitarist Alan Kendall (previously in "Toe Fat") and drummer Geoff Bridgeford (from Australian group "The Groove"). The twelve tracks were chosen from a big bulk of recordings done at the time. All songs on it are ballads and the lyrics about lost loves, hopelessness and defeat. I got friends who truly hate the album and consider it their absolutely worst. I beg to differ. It's so well done - songwriting, vocals, arrangements and production - on to the perfect audio of this first UK press. Even though I don't play it all the time, there was and always will be melancholy moments when it fits better than anything else. Produced by Robert Stigwood and the group. It did OK in US at #34. The first single from it - "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" - topped Billboard, while the second - "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" - halted at #57. Both album and first single failed in UK and didn't chart at all. US issue on ATCO (SD 7003). First UK had label as shown here and matt fold/out cover.(BÅXÅ*)

COLOSSEUM II/STRANGE NEW FLESH ILPS 9356 (-76) UK

Don't be fooled by the name. Musically this got very little in common with the Colosseum active up to 1971. Mk.II was started by John Hiseman after the demise of Tempest and apart from him no members were there from the old group, although Mark Clarke almost made it to the final setting. Most of all it's a Gary Moore album. He's written or co-written all songs but one and provides vocals and guitar. I'm a big fan of the old Colosseum who in the midst of brilliance also could provide beauty and heartfelt elegance. What I hear here is hard-core jazzy prog, more complicated but also less connective - at least to me. I miss Dick Heckstall-Smith and his cool licks. On the positive side - you get lots of good Gary Moore guitar play, among the best he did, top class drumming and some breathtaking twists and turns. It's a nice album, but not even close to any outcome of the older settings. To my knowledge not originally issued in US before the 1994 CD release (One Way Records OW 30647). First UK had label as shown here with "i" logo, thin matt cover and glossy lyric/picture inner sleeve. (CÖL*)(PRÖZ*)