REISSUES REVIEWED
SHAPE OF THINGS THAT PASSED #3
I was both thrilled and bummed when I found out that The Who's long-awaited
BBC radio sessions were released: The Who are easily one of my all-time
favorite bands but I had already shelled out over twenty clams for the
bootleg Maximum BBC disc that came out a year or two ago. Well, all turns
out to be in good balance, as the new CD features a bunch of cuts that aren't
on the boot (not to mention all around better sound), and the boot features six
cuts that aren't on the new, legit release. So, my completest equilibrium is
not only restored, but satisfied and happy.
The Who recorded ten different sessions for the 'Beeb' between the years of
1965-1970 and BBC Sessions (MCA) features tracks from all but the first session,
which was wiped out shortly after its broadcast. Though at times the overall
sound is a bit thin -- mostly due to the live, one-take, mono nature of BBC
recordings -- the performances themselves are stellar, especially due to the
clarity of John Entwhistle's brilliant bass-playing (which is upfront and not
buried as is the case on much of the band's proper studio work) and the vibrant
and explosive sound that is The Who live. Highlights include never properly
released covers like James Brown's "Just You And Me Darling" -- which is slamming,
despite what the liner-notes say -- and "Dancing In The Street" as well as ripping
versions of "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere," "Leaving Here," "Pictures Of Lily,"
"Disguises," "The Seeker," "Relay" and two versions of my fave Who number,
"Substitute." My major complaint: I wish the album was a double-disc set so
they could've included the terrific versions of "I Can See For Miles," "Heaven
And Hell" and "Man With The Money" -- among others -- which are featured on the bootleg.
As hinted above, the liners are only adequate, but there are a few great photos
in the booklet that I've never seen before.
While The Who were heavily soul-influenced, there were many white bands in the '60s
who attempted a pure soul sound (i.e. blue-eyed soul), and in my opinion, most of it
blows. There are a few exceptions, however, one major one being The Boxtops, who are
best known by their stunning smash hit "The Letter" sung by a then 16 year old Alex
Chilton. Sundazed Music has taken it upon themselves to prove that The 'Tops were
no mere one hit wonder -- they actually had seven high charting songs -- by reissuing their
four generally solid, out-of-print albums (The Letter/Neon Rainbow, Cry Like A Baby,
Non Stop and Dimensions), all with a pantload of bonus songs and stylin' booklets
filled with photos and informative liner notes.
While each album features a few duds, and at times the music is a bit too light-weight
for my tastes, all feature Chilton's absolutely incredible voice -- which actually gets
deeper and rougher on each consecutive album -- and a spot-on musical backdrop, more often
than not provided by top-notch Memphis studio musicians (at times including members of
the Stax roster), not the band. Truthfully, you'll probably want to get all of these
albums, especially for the b-sides and unreleased cuts, but if you don't want to shell
out all at once, opt for their debut (as no one should have a record collection sans
"The Letter"), Cry Like A Baby which features an amazing heavy yet still soulful take
on "You Keep Me Hanging On" and their swansong Dimensions, which is the darkest of the
four. That leaves only Non Stop, which, on second thought, is the band's most solidly
consistant album, it just lacks any real knock-out cuts... So really, you're just going
to have get 'em all!
Jumping from polished to primitive, we've got The Loudest Band In Town, an LP of pure 1966
Back From The Grave-style garage-punk, from Iowa cult-legends Gonn. Anyone who has
even a passing interest in '60s garage tunes will know the band's snarling classic "The Blackout
Of Gretly." Gonn's material has been comped and collected many times (most notably on a
Voxx-issued 12"), but never as well as on this Beat Rocket/Sundazed vinyl-only package,
with great liner-notes and sound so clear you can hear every pummeling note, in tune or
out. While Gonn only recorded a few originals, their caveman-like take on The Kinks
("You Really Got Me"), The Standells ("Good Guys..."), Love ("Signed D.C.") and so forth
are a must-hear affair, especially their crucial rendering of "Pain In My Heart" and a
barbaric "Hey Joe." Their originals are really slammin' as well, like the aforementioned
"Blackout..." and the absolutely hammering "Doin' Me In." Fantastic stuff and a must for
all '60s garage fanatics!
Speaking of "Hey Joe," Sundazed has issued a best-of disc by '60s Sunset Strip staples The
Leaves, the first band to actually record "Hey Joe." Seeing as The Leaves swiped "Joe"
from The Byrds live set, it's not surprising that they sound a lot like a more raw,
technically inexperienced and snot-nosed version of 'em (incidentally, The Leaves' took up
The Byrds' residency at Ciro's once McGuinn and Co. broke nationally). On The Leaves ...Are
Happening, you get 20 gems of occasionally hard-edged folk-rock, with a couple of pure
garage-punk killers thrown in for solid measure: the wailing harp and Bo Diddley-beat
driven "Dr. Stone," the instrumental mover "Back On The Avenue," the amazing anti-status
quo rave-up "Too Many People" and three versions of "Hey Joe," including the manic LP
version and the primitive, original single take. As with all Sundazed releases, this is a
deluxe package with every track the band ever recorded for Mira included alongside Jeff
Jarema's extensive liner-notes and some very cool photos, my fave being the band
surrounded by a bevvy of beauties. (An interesting side note is that, at one point,
the band was managed by none other than Pat Boone!)
Although heavy on the cover-tunes, The Barbarians' self-titled debut album is still a winner
of Boston big beat, especially as it contains the bitingly sarcastic killer "Are You A Boy
Or Are You A Girl" (a minor hit!), along with the absolutely scorching "What The New Breed
Say" and the swingin' instrumental "Linguica." Of the cover versions included, "Bo Diddley"
and Ray Charles' "I've Got A Woman" work best, while "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Susie Q"
fall very, very short. What makes this CD worth snaggin' -- besides the previously noted
winners -- is the inclusion of the Barbarian's boss first 45, "Hey Little Bird" b/w "You've
Got To Understand" (the epitome of garage-punk), as well as the unintentionally hysterical
"Moulty," a plea by the band's leader/one-handed drummer to 'find a girl,' with musical
backing by The Hawks (i.e. The Band). Oh yeah, Sundazed is responsible for this one as well!
Phew! Now that we got all the great Sundazed material out of the way, let's move right into
compilation territory, as there's been a whole slew of 'em unleashed recently...
Last column I reviewed the eleventh edition of the great, fifteen-volume Teenage Shutdown series,
remarking that they had set a high-quality standard for all '60s U.S. punk comps to follow.
Well, a California collector/music-lover who goes by the name of Tony The Tyger has stepped
up to the plate (with the help of Dionysus/Bachhus Archives) to give us the Fuzz Flakes And
Shakes series, which challenges TS in the perfection department. There are three volumes out
so far and yes, all are must-owns (especially as they are fairly priced unlike the glut of
bootleg comps that flood the market)! 60 Miles High features mostly non-hippy, garage-psych
-- I dig it, but it's definitely for the more adventurous listener -- with The Day Breaks At
Dawn and Stay Out Of My World handling more straight-ahead teen-punk sounds that range from
semi-polished and folky to raw and nasty. There are just too many monster tracks to go into
any kind of detail, but real winners are provided by the likes of The Glass Sun, The Countdown
Five, The Search, Soul Inc., Humane Society, Dave Travis Extreme, The Last Chapter, The Tracers,
The Denims, The Druids, The Preachers, The Tikis, The Satisfied Minds, Bedforde Set and The
Young Ideas. The sound quality is totally on-target, with no surface noise or tape-hiss, the
packaging is sweet, with stylish cover-art and full liner-notes which include info on all of
the bands featured and the entire series is available on both vinyl and CD.
Another recent compilation -- this one of dubious release -- is the second vinyl-only volume of Bad
Vibrations. As I've never heard the first one I can't really compare, but despite the high
price you'll probably have to pay for it, ridiculous limited-edition pressing and lack of
any sort of information on any of the bands included (we're not even told who it is pictured
on the cover!), Bad Vibrations 2 is yet another solid compilation LP of 1960s American
garage-rock. If yer out for snarling Stones/Pretties-type raunch you'll probably wanna pass
as BV2 features mostly moody and melodic examples of '60s teen-rock -- very UK beat-boom
influenced stuff with loads of distinctly American cheap'n'cheesey organ sounds and generally
snotty lyrical content. Despite any complaints, the sound is totally pristine and the track
selection and sequence is fantastic. Top picks include the opening pop-swinger by The
Excentrics (they've got a keeper on the flip as well), and cuts by The L.A. Teens, The Good Idea,
The Impacts, The Wrest, The Wylde Heard (dig the great one-note solo!) and the ridiculously
monikered Lords Of London, who get my vote for best song on the record.
Moving into international territory, we've got the Punkville CD on Canetoad Records, which
compiles a whole mess of tunes from Australia's vibrant '60s scene. Things open promisingly
enough with a pretty hot take on "Poison Ivy" by Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs, followed by
two '50s-flavored beat-pop winners and then boom!, we're slammed with a real clunker in
the way of the sappy bawl-fest "Broken Things." Three out of four ain't bad though. Up next
we're treated to three storming tracks of r&b-soaked garage-punk by 15 year-old girl wonder
Toni McCann, backed-up by The Fabulous Blue Jays. Truly wonderful stuff! From there we get
a batch of competent though generally non-descript rock'n'roll tunes from Russ Kruger And
The Atlantics, the highlight being their great original "Baby Baby Don't Go" and a nice
cover of "Tallahassee Lassie." I coulda easily done with a mere three or four songs by
these guys as opposed to the 10 included. The Vince Maloney Sect bring things back up to
speed with a bouncy beat-pop song ("She's A Yum Yum"), two cuts of original and vibrant
r&b and a fab cover of The Birds' "No Good Without You." Also included is Vince's post-Sect
single, the light-r&b of "I Need Your Loving Tonight" backed with a solid cover of Elvis'
"Mystery Train." The disc is closed off with 10 absolutely monstrous tracks of driving,
punkified r&b by modsters The Purple Hearts (not to be confused with the '79 UK mod revival
band of the same name). Despite never releasing an original song, they are easily the
stand-outs on this disc, tearing through the tunes -- generally r&b and blues standards -- with
complete amphetamine-fueled abandon, all topped with vocals which range from subdued and
bluesy to truly manic and over-the-top. Unreal!
Greg Shaw is at it again, with another volume of Pebbles, his never-ending '60s punk comp
series. This time we get the 27-band Pebbles Volume 12: The World CD (AIP Records), with
cuts which were previously issued on the great Continent Lashes Back vinyl editions, as
well as a ton of never before reissued songs. All in all it's a mixed bag, ranging from
godhead r&b-punk madness and fine freakbeat to basic beat cranked out by bands from Holland,
France, Japan, Lebanon(!), Australia, Spain, etc. Highlights include The Bunnys' mind-blowing,
surf-tinged instrumental freakout "Moanin'," the Phantoms' psychotic take on "Roadrunner,"
Nicols' moody, psych-tinged "She Had A Name," Noel Deschamps' burning take on "I'm Your
Witchdoctor" (sung in French), The Scorpions' Animals-esque "Baby Back Now," John Wooley
And Just Born's r&beat mover "You're Lying," Los Salvages' "Las Ovejiass," The Pleazers'
snarling take on The Who/Kinks classic "Bald Headed Woman" and so on. The sound is generally
solid -- unlike some of the old Pebbles -- and the booklet features some great repros of original
picture sleeves to drool over, with brief liner-notes for all but two of the bands included.
A worthy and inexpensive addition to anyone's '60s music collection, with my only minor
complaint being the heavy number of cover versions.
Besides A.I.P. and Bomp!, Greg Shaw also launched Voxx Records, the label which was essentially
responsible for the '80s garage-rock revival explosion. For those not familiar with all the
great and varied sounds that came out of that scene, there's Be A Caveman, a new 27 song
retrospective CD of cuts from the Voxx Records vaults, many of which have only been issued
on vinyl. It's insane how many great songs/bands are on here, from the Yardbirds/Downliners
Sect-like r&b of The Crawdaddys (with their great VU cover), to the Beatles-meets-Chocolate
Watchband psych-pop of The Vipers, to the primitive garage-punk of the Dwarves, Gravedigger 5
and The Pandoras, to the tongue-in-cheek psych of The Laughing Soup Dish, to the god-like
Euro-influenced r&beat of the Telltale Hearts, to the truly 1966 mid-American sounds of the
Miracle Workers. Be A Caveman features a classy booklet with a history of the label, a
complete discography, and bits on each band included -- a real dud-free compilation that's a
must for those interested in the now 20 year old revival scene.
Jumping from the 1980's '60s revival to the late '70s (are you confused yet?), we've got the
third edition of Where The Birdmen Flew Revisited, the compilation series of Aussie punk-rock
rarities. While not nearly as strong as the first two volumes, which were culled from the
fantastic Murder Punk CD series -- and are 100% scorch -- #3 does give us three raw'n'hateful
hammers from down-under legends X (which featured a member of Rose Tattoo) plus
good cuts from World War XXIV, The Rejex, The Press and 11 others. As with the previous two
volumes -- which are now out of print -- the album includes a well-written and researched book on
the history of the Australian scene and is a limited-pressing of 1,000 copies. So while not
an essential purchase, it's one you won't have much time to think about.
Break The Rules is essentially a legit Killed By Death-type compilation series, featuring
worldwide late-'70s/early-'80s punk-rock obscurities. This volume -- the ninth one -- is the
strongest I've heard, with only a few lackluster cuts out of the 19 included. Things lean
a bit more towards the power-pop side of punk with melody-drenched and hook-laden cuts from
the likes of Finland's Ratsia, who open things up with a perfect version of The Buzzcocks'
"What Do I Get" sung in their native tongue (as well as another equally on-the-money
sing-along type number), Canada's The Bureaucrats (who feature an incredibly-accented
vocalist), the UK's Richard And The Taxmen and Sweden's The Moderns who serve up wonderful
'79 mod-revival type pop. Heavier and snottier sounds are supplied by America's The A.D.s,
The Law, and Roger C. Reale who give us the nasty Fear-like "Kill Me," Sweden's Pain with
two Pagans/Dead Boys-like punch-ups, and Lana, an incredible fast'n'snotty Finnish band.
Scads of info is given on each band included, as well as repros of all the sleeves -- this
is a record done with real love and respect for the music, and as such, deserves your
support. As with past volumes, BTR#9 is available on both CD and vinyl.
End Notes: 1. Reports of Retroactive Records' death last column seem to have been exaggerated as the
label has snuck up and unleashed the much anticipated Smoke, retrospective CD/double-LP set
(which we didn't receive a copy of to review in time). We have no clue as to what else the
label has planned -- surely it'll be good, as whoever is running the label has some mighty fine
taste -- but we'll keep ya posted, of course. 2. A new label called Past & Present is reissuing
the entire Bam Caruso back catalog, starting with vinyl-only editions of the truly crucial
Rubble compilation series, albeit at an insanely high price: expect to pay around $30 per
LP! Truth be told, I see no justification for this high price, no matter how thick the
vinyl or how limited the edition. 3. A few must-buy titles came in right as we were going
to press, including Devil's Children Volume Two (a limited-edition, 28 song CD-only
compilation of phenomenal Aussie '60s beat and punk), Chocolate Watchband's The Inner
Mystique (a bootleg vinyl repress of this American garage-psych classic), and two collections
of the The Sir Douglas Quintet's incredible Tribe Records material (The Best
Of... and ...Is Back, both on Sundazed). Norton Records also recently released
San Antonio Rock, 1957-1961, a collection of Doug Sahm's pre-Quintet output. 4. Calling
all record labels and 'zine editors: Please send us stuff to review for the next column.
Most of the releases reviewed in Shape Of Things... can be
found at New York stores like
Rockit Scientist, Generation, Midnight, Soapbox, Wowsville and Don's Music (in Brooklyn)
or via mail-order from a number of distributors/mail-order companies
(see our links page for
info). At times, we'll have a few of the titles available though our
mail-order list as well.
[ Shape Of Things
That Passed #1 | Shape Of Things
That Passed #2 ]
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© 2000 Sound Views. Last Revised: 5.15.00
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