CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL/BAYOU COUNTRY LBS 83261 (-69) UK

A semi-repost. As the Spanish I wrote about earlier came on another label with partly different sleeve design and audio, thought I'd add the UK original as well. "Green River" early became my CCR favorite due to personal circumstances (see earlier post). But honestly not much happened with the band musically between the 1968 debute and their next five albums up to the 1970 "Pendulum". Makes sense - if you have a catchy million dollar sound that keeps selling, why change it? It was an almost perfect meeting between well made selfpenned and covers, simple recordings with garage style backing and attractive vocals, conveyed by direct natural audio. This second album is no exception, also including top hits "Born On The Bayou" and "Proud Mary". Never had a US first press, but kept UK copies since first release and they always brought me close to the band - so natural it's like personal invites to the studio. The Spanish original I posted earlier had more bass and came through a lot darker with slightly different balance. Probably an attempt to make it further more compatible and fitting for the many one-channel equipments still in use there at the time. Sounds rawer and more primitive, like some obscure mid-sixties garage mono, still fitting the music rather well. That's an oddity and worth while as such, but for listening this is it. Super clear with lots of presence. Premiere US on Fantasy (8387). Also issued as mono in Australia and a couple of south american countries. First UK had label as shown here and thin fully laminated cover. (CÖR*) (CPYC*)

OTIS REDDING/THE DOCK OF THE BAY VOLT S-419 (-68) US

First posthumous issue, appearing a couple of months after his premature death in a plane crash December 10, 1967. A compilation of five 45 B:s and four A:s, coupled with two tracks - "The Huckle-Buck" and "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out)" - I guess were previousy unreleased (right me if I'm wrong!). So a rather ordinary posthumous patchwork and you could expect a hodge-podge including some more or less half assed recordings, but not in this case. I hear a great album where most tracks are winners and non poor. It says a lot about his overall high quality when even the flip-sides were no less than magic. I was thinking of separately describing some favorite tracks, but about the same goes for the whole album - his personal vocals to emotional brass and rhythm guitars and precise bass/drum backing. Sounding so equally lovely if people told me all cuts were from the same session they would have fooled me. Two of the cuts - "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" and "I'm Coming Home" - are called "electronically reprocessed" on sleeve, but very carefull done so what you get is the former in mono and the latter just slightly rebalanced. No big deal. The rest good stereo for its time and the audio perfect for the music - soft and warm, yet clear. As a whole very good listening and one I wanna return to often. Not some average post-departure release, but a classic soul LP. Issued and reissued on every possible fromat around the world through the years. First UK on Stax (230 001) with different sleeve design. Premiere US had label as shown here and glossy cover. (YZÄ*) (ÖRÖ*) (TÄX*)

ALTERNATIVES WS 1873 (-70) US

One of many high quality Warner Bros./Reprise pop/rock compilations issued in US late sixties to early seventies. For more on those also check posts on "The 1969 Warner/Reprise Record Show" and "The Days Of Wine And Vinyl". Here's another good one. First thought the title "Alternatives" was for alternative takes, but it's not quite that exciting - just a way to tag a collection that don't carry the most obvious hits. Well maybe not all that hit-like back then, but listening with today's ears you will get a couple of classics - Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" and Joni Mitchell "Woodstock" the most obvious. And there are also many gems from the artists now more shaded songbooks - Neil Young/Crazy Horse "Cinnamon Girl", Jethro Tull "Reasons For Waiting", (Small)Faces "Around The Plynth", Zappa/Mothers "Directly From My Heart" and Graham Bond "Neighbour Neighbour" - to mention my favorites. Audio shifts a little, but most of it superb, all in true stereo. Very good listening all through and highly recommended if you wanna take home and enjoy fourteen great originals without paying a fortune. To my knowledge this US was the only issue. It came with label as shown here and glossy fold/out cover with pics and info on all the involved. (YZÄ*) (SÄM*) (LÖZZ*)

THE HOLLIES/HOLLIES SING DYLAN UK MONO PMC 7078 VS. STEREO PCS 7078 (-69)

Last Hollies album released as both stereo and mono in UK. Had the mono for a very long time and always enjoyed the fine balanced audio (se earlier post), so to my ears it was either a different mix or a fold made from a perfect compatible. But as I've lately seen sellers flaunting it as a separate mix thought I'd compare once and for all just to be sure. And it certainly sounds like a fold to me. All fade-outs coincide and when connecting the channels on the stereo I get almost the same balance on all cuts. The mono may be percieved as a tiny bit clearer at parts with a sometimes slightly louder bass, but the differences are so small it would surprise me a lot if it they came from separate mixes. More probably from a moderately diverging use of limiting or compression. So why buy a mono when you can get the same result if just connecting the channels? Die-hard Hollies fans who don't have a mono button may get a kick out of it and it's also a must for label collectors wanting it all. The stereo itself is very good, centered and balanced giving a natural impression. In fact if you don't sit directly in front of the speakers or use headphones the formats sounds exactly the same. All that said I still prefer the mono. Not because it's rarer, but in my world a well sounding mono always beats a corresponding stereo if similar enough. First US as "Words And Music By Bob Dylan" (Epic BN 26447). Premiere UK had labels as shown here and fully laminated cover. (HÖLY*) (PÖX*) (MÅW*) (CPYC*)

GEORGE MARTIN/GEORGE MARTIN SCORES INSTRUMENTAL VERSIONS OF THE HITS UAL 3420 (-65) US MONO

In a pop/rock collecting perspective musically maybe not to everyones taste, but contemplating all he did as producer, inventor and enabler of The Beatles' at the time more or less adventurous ideas and his work at large with other artists, every single one of his own solo works ought to be cherished just for the sake of that. Not only was he responsible for issues that together have sold hundreds of millions of records, his studio craftsmanship and ideas have also been copied and admired by other producers though the years. And as he originally was an educated piano player and scholary of classic music it makes sense all his remaining solo work were with orchestra doing own interpretation of then contemporary hits in a classical style. As with the last one I posted - the 1964 "Off The Beate Track" - the versions here goes from pleasant lounge music to more experimental. One example of the latter is "I Feel Fine" where a theme from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is woven in. This is not stuff I want to listen to every day, but considering the man and his life work I will go on buying his original issues and keep them as an important part of music history. To my knowledge this was US and Canadian (same label and number) only, also as stereo (UAS 6420). First US had label as shown here, heavy vinyl and thick laminated cover. (BÄ*) (YZÄ*) (ÖXCÅ*)

PATTI LABELLE AND HER BELLES/ OVER THE RAINBOW 588001 (-66) UK STEREO

Totally new to this record, one that I don't think I've noticed before. For me the name "LaBelle" equals seventies quality disco, but this is far from that. As I'm learning now the original quartet here - Pattti LaBelle, Cindy Birdsong (earlier in the Ordettes) plus Nona Hendryx and Sara Dash (formerly The Del Capris) - had a very different direction in the sixties and after Cindy Birdsong left to join The Supremes the remaining trio changed both name and aim. This is as far from disco as you can get. Languishing heavily orchestrated ballads, carefully arranged and produced. It could be tagged "lounge music"...if it weren't for the singing. I hear here two worlds clashing - music a posh milieu at upper Manhattan, vocals street-smart ghetto. Starting with "Over The Rainbow" where Patti's shouting, howling and wining the vocals over soft strings...and then going on till the last track with more or less unbridled vocals from the girls, all the time to tidy and well organized arrangements. The guy who sold it to me said it was boring, but I don't agree at all. To my ears the meeting between elegant and unruly here instead makes it exciting and very good listening. Add to that both stereo mixes and audio are smashing and I got me a true keeper. Beautiful. Premiere US on Atlantic (SD/8119). Don't know of any other issues. First UK had label as shown here and thin laminated cover. (FÄV*) (ÄTHP*) 

                                                                                

                                                                                
                                                                                

                                                                        

                                                                             

                                                                                

 

BRYAN FERRY/THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE KSD 19205 (-78) CANADA

Ferry's fifth solo LP and one of his most personal, made just after Jerry Hall left him for Mick Jagger. The separation may reflect in the lyrics and lonesome vocals, but it's still a happy listening because of the tophole arrangements, distinct audio and quite a few catchy moments. Recorded with a mixed crew, among others involving excellent US musicians as Waddy Wachtel on lead guitar and drummer Rick Marotta, both also working as co-producers. Not a cover album as such since no less than four of the tracks are self-penned and those, to my taste, also are the strongest on the record. "Sign Of The Times" once and for all confirms the premise that less is more. Using a similar formula as "Virginia Plain", where only one melodic pattern is repeated through the song, then differing only slightly in background and vocal treatment. For me this works even better than VP. Impossible to sit still while listening. "Can't let Go" and "When She Walks In The Room" both beautifully string enhanced love ballads (to Jerry?) and "The Island Earth" another love ballad, building on an hypnotic minor pattern with some wining guitar by Wachtel. No secret I'm having a Ferry period since a month or so back. In this day and age when we are bombarded with more or less sloppy computor managed trials from everywhere I think it's important to spotlight a guy who always had high quality - from songwriting to production and audio. Issued and reissued on about every format all over the world through the years. Premiere UK on Polydor (POLD 5003). First Canadian had label as shown here and thick matt fold/out cover with pic/lyric/credit inner. (YZÄ*) (ÄNÖ*) (BRÄY*)

THE LEE KINGS/BINGO LSP 10.106 (-66) SWEDEN

Their debute LP "Stop The Music" (see earlier post) was a mishmash of previous 45 cuts, all more or less unproduced garage pop. One or two catchy, but as a whole leaving a sloppy or even unskilled impression. This, second and last before original band breaking up 1967, is a totally different animal. Before the recordings bassist Olle Nordström had left to start a booking agency and was replaced by Sheffield lad Mike Watson, who'd first come to Sweden as part English combo The Hi-Grades then working as backing band to Larry Finnegan and Jerry Williams. And listening to this it's obvious Watson took the lead. Apart from him writing six of the tracks the entire atmosphere oozes of contemporary British rock/pop. A fine blend between up-tempo and ballads, tightly produced with a fair share of good guitars and catchy moments. I've seen it listed as "psych"... maybe, but then only in a very broad sense of the word. Most of it do sound like something from a coeval very capable English outfit, not very experimental or pioneering but melodic and well played. I like the up-tempo tracks best - "Lost My Girl" has a good guitar all through, "Gonna Keep Searchin" with its amost annoying high-pitch backing vocals and "Why Why Why" a very catchy Watson composition also released as 45 and doing well on the lists. To my knowledge this was the only vinyl issue. 2016 EU 2XCD on RPM Records (WRETROD 974) came with the band's entire song book, carrying pristine mono or stereo mixes. All original LP:s were pressed in Germany for the Swedish market. First with label as shown here, thick vinyl and fully laminated cover. (GÖXÄ*) (SCÄ*)

THE GOGGLES ASFD 6244 (-70) US

Having a hard time getting facts together for this album. At least some of it seems to have been part of a soundtrack to the 1970 US NBC TV-show "Looking Through Super Plastic Elastic Goggles At Color", of which I can't find any detailed info. "The Goggles" was obviously some kind of studio crew only together for this and that special occation. Vocalist Jessica Harper had earlier been in "Hair" and is also known actress in movies like "Suspiria" and "Phantom Of The Paradise". Bassist and vocalist Rod McBrien former recording engineer who'd worked with Jimi Hendrix and Hollies among others. And guitarist David Spinoza who since then have played with many of the great ones, including Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr and also rumoured to have dated Yoko Ono during Lennon's "lost weekend". Soundtrack or temporary studio combo or not, I'm choosing to see this as a one-off album by the band "The Goggles". And the more I hear while slowly falling in love the more I'm convinced - this is something of a lost gem. Very melodic and embracing sunshine pop and psych, conveyed by excellent production, arrangements and audio. Vocals are lovely and instrumentation on the spot. A fine exemple of American period pop - positive and very well done. All tracks work fine with me, but to mention a few - "Super Plastic Elastic Goggles" and "We All Live On A Rainbow" both make me happy and "Light Show Man" has enough twists to get in and get stuck. To my knowledge this was the only release. It came with label as shown here and a matt round sleeve that can be folded out to shape a pair of big goggles. (YZÄ*) (ZÖNT*) (FÄV*)

SMASH SOUNDS SD 850 (-67) US

Sampler with a nice blend of black and white. Big hits by artists like Otis Redding, Arthur Conley and Ben E. King together with ones from Shadows Of Knight, Sonny & Cher, Buffalo Springfield and more. So both a chance to get a number of classics at the same place and take in over thirty minutes of highly enjoyable recordings. And there's no cheating with the mixes - Arthur Conley "Sweet Soul Music" is mono, the rest stereo and the audio clear and well separated. One could argue that some of the stereo mixes are too panned, lacking overlapping, but at least they're true and pristine so I'm good listening. Also originally issued in Canada (same number) and Turkey (Melodi Plak 850). Further US as mono vinyl, cassette and reel-to-reel. Premiere US had label as shown here, thick vinyl, glossy cover and ATCO ad inner. (YZÄ*) (SÄM*) (TÄX*)