Troggs - Archeology (1966-1976 uk, classic garage beat, double disc chronicles series)

A double-CD, 52-track box set that proves there was a lot more to The Troggs than "Wild Thing" and "Love Is All Around." This archetypally primitive British Invasion quartet scored many hits in the U.K. that barely dented the charts in the U.S., like "With A Girl Like You," "Night Of The Long Grass," and the notoriously racy "I Can't Control Myself." They're all here, along with notable album cuts, B-sides, and worldwide post-1968 flops. 

Primitive they may have been, but The Troggs -- who wrote most of their own material -- did not lack a flair for hard pop hooks, and could display a surprising delicacy in their ballads. Several of their obscure singles and album tracks are equal in worth to their hits, like the gothic but pretty "Cousin Jane," and the witty light psychedelia of "Maybe the Madman" and "Purple Shades." Some of the '70s hard rockers and glammish novelties are unimpressive, and 52 songs is arguably excessive. But there are a fair number of obscure gems to be found on this well-annotated package. 

by Richie Unterberger 

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Lost Girl (Reg Presley) - 2:34

2. The Yella In Me (Reg Presley) - 2:42

3. Wild Thing (Chip Taylor) - 2:38

4. From Home (Reg Presley) - 2:21

5. With A Girl Like You (Reg Presley) - 2:10

6. I Want You (Colin Fretcher, Larry Page) - 2:19

7. Jingle Jangle (Reg Presley) - 2:31

8. Our Love Will Still Be There (Reg Presley) - 3:12

9. I Just Sing (Reg Presley) - 2:12

10.I Can't Control Myself (Reg Presley) - 3:07

11.Gonna Make You (Colin Fretcher, Larry Page) - 2:51

12.Any Way That You Want Me (Chip Taylor) - 2:59

13.66-5-4-3-2-1 (Reg Presley) - 2:37

14.Give It To Me (All Your Love) (Reg Presley) - 2:17

15.I Can Only Give You Everything (Mike Coulter, Tommy Scott) - 3:27

16.You Can't Beat It (Reg Presley) - 2:25

17.Last Summer (Reg Presley) - 2:58

18.I Want You To Come Into My Life (Reg Presley) - 2:27

19.Cousin Jane (David Matthews, Larry Page) - 2:28

20.Night Of The Long Grass (Reg Presley) - 3:10

21.Girl In Black (Colin Fretcher, Larry Page) - 2:04

22.Too Much Of A Good Thing (Terry Fogg, John St. John Gillard) - 2:50

23.Seventeen  (Reg Presley) - 2:42

24.Her Emotion (Reg Presley) - 2:32

25.My Lady (Reg Presley) - 3:01

26.All Of The Time (Reg Presley) - 2:11

27.Somewhere My Girl Is Waiting (Artie Wayne) - 2:50

Disc 2
1. Love Is All Around (Reg Presley) - 3:01
2. When Will The Rain Come (Ronnie Bond) - 2:43
3. Little Girl (Reg Presley) - 2:59
4. Maybe The Madman (Chris Britton) - 2:14
5. Surprise, Surprise (I Need You) (Reg Presley) - 2:50
6. You Can Cry If You Want To(Reg Presley) - 2:53
7. Hip Hip Hooray (John Carter, Geoff Stephens) - 2:19
8. Purple Shades (Reg Presley) - 2:26
9. Heads Or Tails (Chris Britton) - 3:44
10.Evil Woman (Larry Weiss) - 2:57
11.That's What You Get Girl (Reg Presley) - 2:02
12.I Don't Know Why (Reg Presley) - 2:53
13.Easy Loving (Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro) - 3:01
14.Lover (Chris Britton) - 2:28
15.Come Now (R. Bond, C. Britton, T. Murray, R. Presley) - 2:22
16.The Raver (Reg Presley) - 2:49
17.Everything's Funny (Chris Britton, Reg Presley) - 2:14
18.Feels Like A Woman (Reg Presley) - 3:34
19.Queen Of Sorrow (Richard Moore) - 2:43
20.Strange Movies (Reg Presley) - 2:57
21.I'm On Fire (Richard Moore) - 2:15
22.Good Vibrations (Mike Love, Brian Wilson) - 3:21
23.Summertime (Ronnie Bond, Tony Murray, Reg Presley) - 3:23
24.I'll Buy You An Island (Chris Britton, Reg Presley) - 3:12
25.Get You Tonight (Richard Moore) - 2:48

Troggs
*Ronnie Bond -  Drums
*Chris Britton - Lead Guitar
*Reg Presley - Lead vocals
*Peter Staples - Bass

1966  The Troggs - From Nowhere (2003 bonus tracks) 
1967  The Troggs - Cellophane (2003 bonus tracks) 

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The Troggs - Cellophane (1967 uk, beat psych, 2003 Repertoire bonus tracks issue)

First released in 1967, this album really does invoke the spirit of the Swinging Sixties with it's soft-rock folk-psychedelic feel throughout. Featuring 'Love Is All Around', 'My Lady' and 'Little Red Donkey' and 12 bonus tracks (including both sides of solo singles from Trogg's drummer Ronnie Bond and leader Reg Presley!). 

Tracks
1.Little Red Donkey - 2:13
2.Too Much Of A Good Thing - 2:47
3.Butterflies And Bees - 1:54
4.All Of The Time - 2:08
5.Seventeen - 2:38
6.Somewhere My Girl Is Waiting - 2:49
7.It's Showing - 2:54
8.Her Emotion - 2:28
9.When Will The Rain Come - 2:40
10.My Lady - 2:57
11.Come The Day - 1:52
12.Love Is All Around - 2:58
13.That's What You Get Girl - 1:59
14.I Don't Know Why - 2:50
15.Easy Loving - 2:58
16.Give Me Something - 3:25
17.Lover - 2:24
18.Come Now - 2:18
19.The Raver - 2:46
20.You - 2:32
21.Ronnie Bond - Carolyn - 2:31
22.Ronnie Bond - Anything For You - 2:35
23.Reg Presley - Lucinda Lee - 3:05
24.Reg Presley - Wichita Lineman - 3:05

The Troggs
*Ronnie Bond -  Drums
*Chris Britton - Lead Guitar
*Reg Presley - Lead vocals
*Peter Staples - Bass

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The Troggs - From Nowhere (1966 uk, classic garage beat, 2003 repertoire extra tracks edition)

The Troggs were one of the great singles artists of the 1960s with a string of classics that started with Wild Thing. They never really achieved the same level of success with their albums. This debut From Nowhere was their most successful long player reaching number 6 in the UK and remaining on the chart for sixteen weeks. It contains some of the early singles and b-sides as well as additional tracks. However, this CD has a different running order to the original UK release and is more similar to the German release. However, the Kitty Cat Song, Ride You Pony and Evil were all found on the UK and not the German releases.

Chip Taylor's Wild Thing was the Troggs' breakthrough. One of the most recognisable riffs in music it prompted a cover by Jimi Hendrix. Surely this is track is unique with its ocarina solo. The band's first single Lost Girl and its b-side The Yella in Me are included. Lost Girl was originally released on the CBS label before Larry Page gained the band a two-single Fontana deal. Listening to this track now it is hard to imagine why it was not a hit as it is certainly one of the most powerful with a driving bass riff and crazy guitar solo.

The driving drums and bass of I Just Sing make it one of the album's best tracks. It stands out from the known singles and shows the Troggs could stand outside the pop market and produce more unusual or innovative tracks. The Jaguar and the Thunderbird is sung by drummer Ronnie Bond. Guitarist Chris Britton delivers the vocals on the standard Ride Your Pony.

Your Love is reminiscent of the Kinks' All Day and All of the Night. Its chopping guitar chords pushing the song forwards.

A cover of the Kingmen's Louie Louie is perfectly suited to the Troggs' style. Ironically, the riff from Louie Louie translated well into Wild Thing!

One of the benefits of reissuing the album on CD is that it provides an opportunity to include additional tracks that were not on the original album such as non-album singles and b-sides like I Want You. With a Girl Like You was the follow-up to Wild Thing and the Troggs' only number one hit in the UK although Wild Thing hit the top spot in the US at the same time.

This was almost an afterthought, having been recorded in a few minutes at the end of the session that produced Wild Thing. The song introduces the classic Troggs backing vocals that later reappeared on the superb I Can't Control Myself. The latter track was also a big hit for the band and was released on Larry Page's Page One label. This song was banned in Australia and was close to being banned by the BBC because of its second line "your slacks are low and your hips are showing." The Troggs had become at producing raunchy songs, Wild Thing possibly an example, but Gonna Make You and the later Give It To Me proved the point.
Making-Time

Tracks
1. Wild Thing (Chip Taylor) - 2:34
2. The Yella In Me (Reg Presley) - 2:38
3. I Just Sing (Reg Presley) - 2:09
4. Hi Hi Hazel (Bill Martin,Phil Coulter) - 2:43
5. Lost Girl (Reg Presley) - 2:31
6. The Jaguar And The Thunderbird (Chuck Berry) - 2:01
7. Your Love (Larry Page,Michael Julien) - 1:52
8. Our Love Will Still Be There (Reg Presley) - 3:08
9. Jingle Jangle (Reg Presley) - 2:26
10.When I'm With You (Reg Presley) - 2:23
11.From Home (Reg Presley) - 2:20
12.Louie Louie (Richard Berry) - 3:01
13.The Kitty Cat Song (Jimmy Roach,Joe Spendel) - 2:11
14.Ride Your Pony (Naomi Neville; Nom De Plume Of Allen R. Toussaint) - 2:24
15.Evil (Shelby S. Singleton Jr.) - 3:13
16.With A Girl Like You (Reg Presley) - 2:05
17.I Want You (Larry Page,Colin Frechter) - 2:13
18.I Can't Control Myself (Reg Presley) - 3:03
19.Gonna Make You (Larry Page,Colin Frechter) - 2:46
20.As I Ride By (Ronnie Bond) - 2:02

The Troggs
*Ronnie Bond -  Drums
*Chris Britton - Lead Guitar
*Reg Presley - Lead vocals
*Peter Staples - Bass

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Grateful Dead - Live/Dead (1969 us, classic west coast psych)

The Grateful Dead's fourth title was likewise their first extended concert recording. Spread over two LPs, Live/Dead (1969) finally was able to relay the intrinsic sonic magnificence of a Dead show in real time. Additionally, it unleashed several key entries into their repertoire, including the sidelong epic and Deadhead anthem"Dark Star" as well as wailing and otherwise electrified acidic covers of the Rev.

Gary Davis blues standard "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and the R&B rave-up "(Turn on Your) Lovelight." Finally, the conundrum of how to bring a lengthy performance experience to the listener has been solved. The album's four sides provided the palette from which to replicate the natural ebb and flow of a typical Dead set circa early 1969.

Tomes have been written about the profound impact of "Dark Star" on the Dead and their audience. It also became a cultural touchstone signifying that rock music was becoming increasingly experimental by casting aside the once-accepted demands of the short, self-contained pop song. This version was recorded on February 27, 1969, at the Fillmore West and is presented pretty much the way it went down at the show. The same is true of the seven remaining titles on Live/Dead.

The rousing rendition of "St. Stephen" reinvents the Aoxomoxoa (1968) prototype with rip-roaring thunder and an extended ending which slams into an instrumental rhythmic excursion titled "The Eleven" after the jam's tricky time signature. The second LP began with a marathon cover of "(Turn on Your) Lovelight," which had significant success for both Bobby "Blue" Bland and Gene Chandler earlier in the decade.

With Ron "Pigpen" McKernan at the throttle, the Dead barrel their way through the work, reproportioning and appointing it with fiery solos from Garcia and lead vocal raps courtesy of McKernan. "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is a languid noir interpretation of Rev. Gary Davis' distinct Piedmont blues. Garcia's fretwork smolders as his solos sear through the melody. Likewise notable is the criminally underrated keyboard work of Tom Constanten, whose airy counterpoint rises like a departing spirit from within the soul of the song.

The final pairing of "Feedback" -- which is what is sounds like it might be -- with the "lowering down" funeral dirge "And We Bid You Goodnight" is true to the way that the band concluded a majority of their performances circa 1968-1969. They all join in on an a cappella derivative of Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family's traditional Bahamian distillation. Few recordings have ever represented the essence of an artist in performance as faithfully as Live/Dead.

It has become an aural snapshot of this zenith in The Grateful Dead's 30-year evolution and as such is highly recommended for all manner of enthusiasts. The 2001 remastered edition that was included in the Golden Road (1965-1973) (2001) box set tacks on the 45 rpm studio version of "Dark Star" as well as a vintage radio advert for the album.
by Lindsay Planer

Tracks
1. Dark Star (J. Garcia, M. Hart, R. Hunter, B. Kreutzmann, P. Lesh, R. "Pigpen" McKernan, B. Weir) - 23:15
2. St. Stephen (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh) - 6:45
3. The Eleven (Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh) - 9:39
4. Turn on Your Love Light (Deadric Malone, Joseph Scott) - 15:30
5. Death Don't Have No Mercy (Rev. Gary Davis) - 10:30
6. Feedback (Grateful Dead) - 8:52
7. And We Bid You Goodnight (Traditional) - 0:36

Grateful Dead
*Tom Constanten - Keyboards
*Jerry Garcia - Guitar, Vocals
*Mickey Hart - Drums, Percussion
*Bill Kreutzmann - Drums, Percussion
*Phil Lesh - Bass, Vocals
*Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - Keyboards, Vocals
*Bob Weir - Guitar, Vocals
*Robert Hunter - Lyrics

Grateful Dead - Skull and Roses 1971 (Original Double Vinyl release)

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Eric Burdon And The Animals - The Twain Shall Meet (1968 uk, amazing psychedelic rock, 2003 digi pack bonus tracks issue and 2013 japan SHM remaster)

Repertoire REPUK 1022 (2004) Again, Repertoire has done an excellent job with their remaster and restoration of this classic psychedelic-era Animals collection. The sound is bright and punchy without being excessively heavy and loud - you'll want to play this one!

This second true step into the psychodelic explorations of Eric Burdon and the Animals (the first being Winds Of Change) is indeed a "strange trip" which wanders through topical tunes, blues, rock, and some radio hits. Songs like "Closer To The Truth" one could definitely call `head music' and is reflective of much of the music of the time (such as that of the Airplane). There are also roaming instrumentals like "We Love You Lil" which serve as links that connect the album together. "Sky Pilot" is by far the staple of the album. This tune became hugely popular with and still holds a special place for soldiers who experienced Vietnam first hand. Eric and his Animals had already become quite popular with those serving in Vietnam with earlier tunes such as "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place," and hearing "Sky Pilot" again clearly brings back a certain sentiment. The truly psychedelic and iconic "All Is One" nicely wraps up the original album and conveys Eric's peace-and-brotherhood mood during this stage of his career - and life. The bonus tracks are also a nice addition and round out the CD.

As many Animals' fans know, their recordings in the post-Mickie Most production era suffered from poor production values and often were very poorly engineered. One of the best features of this remaster is that much of the poor quality of the original tapes has been overcome. Of particular note is the classic mentioned above, "Sky Pilot." Fans will surely remember the generally poor sound quality of the original recording - particularly in Eric's intro vocal - with no real improvement on subsequent re-issues. Here, the song lives again and has been restored about as well as I believe it can be. (Gone, however, is that original tremolo/echo effect from Eric's vocal on the line, "How high can you fly?"). The quality of the sound holds throughout this CD remaster.
(A note for the purists and collectors out there: the single versions of "Sky Pilot" included as bonus tracks are not the US versions. The A and B side versions included in this package are 4:22 and 3:02, respectively. The US versions are 2:55 and 4:30, respectively).

On the whole, this album is indeed a "strange trip" through the blues-meets-psychodelia brand of music that occurred during the late sixties, and the style and energy of this disc clearly capture the period. While the two tunes not principally sung by Eric Burdon do not contribute much to the overall collection, they do help maintain the continuity and mood. Taking the whole package into consideration, I would give this remaster `two thumbs up' and would definitely recommend it - particularly to fans of the later stage of the Animals.
by Adamus67

Tracks
1. Monterey 4:40
2. Just the Thought 3:51
3. Closer to the Truth 4:35
4. No Self Pity 4:55
5. Orange and Red Beams 3:46
6. Sky Pilot 7:23
7. We Love You Lil 6:45
8. All Is One 7:37
Bonus Tracks (Singles Versions)
9. Sky Pilot, Part 1 4:22
10.Sky Pilot, Part 2 3:02
11.Monterey 4:25
12.Anything 2:52
13.It's All Meat 2:09

Personnel
*Eric Burdon - Vocals
*John Weider - Guitar, Violin
*Vic Briggs - Guitar
*Danny McCulloch - Bass, Vocals
*Barry Jenkins - Drums

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American Blues - Is Here (1968 us, psych blues rock with pre ZZ Top members, Akarma edition)

American Blues is perhaps better known for its members than the music itself.... American Blues were a 1960s Texas-based garage band who played a psychedelic style of blues rock music influenced by the 13th Floor Elevators.

They are most famous for including two future members of the band ZZ Top in their ranks, ZZ Top and Frank Beard. From 1966 to 1968, they played the Dallas-Fort Worth-Houston circuit and headlined in three clubs all called "The Cellar", in Dallas at clubs such as "The Walrus" on Mockingbird Lane, and in Houston at "Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine" on Allen's Landing, as late as 1968. Around 1968 the band (the two Hill brothers and Beard) decided to leave the Dallas--Fort Worth area, relocating to Houston. At this time, however, guitarist Rocky Hill wanted to focus on "straight blues", while his brother Dusty wanted the band to rock more. Rocky left the band, and was soon replaced by Billy Gibbons, of Houston psychedelic-rockers Moving Sidewalks, becoming the band ZZ Top.

As teenagers living in Dallas, Texas, brothers Dusty (guitar) and Rocky (bass) Hill played in a series of local bands, including The Starliners and The Deadbeaters. Their efforts attracted little notice until they formed The Warlocks, who managed to release a pair of unsuccessful local singles. By 1968 the lineup had expanded to include former Cellar Dweller drummer Frank Beard and keyboard player Dough Davis. Simultaneously, the band decided The Warlocks had run their course. Opting for a new name (The American Blues) and a new sound, the group was signed by the local Karma label.

Recorded at Robin Hood Brian's Studio, the quartet's 1968 debut "The American Blues Is Here" teamed them with producer Scotty McKay. Rather raw and ill-focused, the album found the band fumbling around for a style. Taking stabs at a variety of genres, including blues (check-out the weird reworking of Tim Harden's "If I Were a Carpenter"), psych and hard rock, the results weren't particularly ground breaking. Needless to say, sales proved non-existent, though the album attracted the attention of major label MCA.

by Adamus67

Tracks
1. If I Were A Carpenter - 5:26
2. All I Saw Was You - 3:46
3. She'll Be Mine - 1:51
4. Fugue For Lady Cheriff- 2:14
5. It's Gone- 2:00
6. Keep My Heart In A Rage - 2:40
7. Mercury Blues - 4:15
8. Melted Like Snow - 3:15
9. Mellow - 2:08

The American Blues
*Dusty Hill - Bass
*Frank Beard - Drums
*Rocky Hill - Guitar, Vocals
*Doug Davis - Keyboards

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Eric Burdon And The Animals - Winds of Change (1967 uk, great psych rock, 2003 extra tracks issue and 2013 japan SHM double disc remaster)

Everything changes , nothings changed'....Eric Burdon former lead singer of 'The Animals '. A five piece r'n'b band from Newcastle . The group hit the big time with a cover of 'House of The Rising Sun', produced by Mickie Most. Other big hit's followed such as 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' and my personal fave 'We Got to Get out of this Place'. The Animals toured the US in 1964 as part of the British R'nB/Pop invasion .

A year later the group had split in two , boozers on one side , facing opposite Burdon and guitarist Hilton Valentine , Valentine first dropped acid with Brian Jones in New York. Soon after he introduced Burdon to LSD. The tension's in the group led to a split .. 1966. Burdon relocates to California .Putting together the 'new' Animals......'Winds of Change is the debut album. The title track is anchored by a fluid bass line with a repetitive violin and sitar on top . The song pays homage to musical icons past and present Robert Johnson to Jimi Hendrix circa 1967 .

I'm guessing Hendrix had blown 'em away at Monterey by then. Track two 'Poem By The Sea', the album's pivotal track , Burdon recites poetry over music drenched in echo and reverb. Very trippy . 'Paint it Black' is a great cover Burdon's r'nb roots are all over this one. 'The Black Plague' epic poem based on the Black Death , the story revolves round castle dwellers too scared to venture outside the walls, end up starving to death. ...'Yes I'm Experienced' is an affirmative reply to Hendrix. 'San Franciscan Nights' and 'Good Times' are two slices of timeless sixties pop psych.. 'Winds of Change' is a pretty good album .....All songs written by Eric Burdon, Vic Briggs, John Weider, Barry Jenkins, and Danny McCulloch. Produced by: Tom Wilson.
Reached #42 in US charts (released in UK in Oct'67 - did not chart).

While the two MGM LP commercial releases in the USA (SE-4484 and E-4484) and MGM's Special Disk Jockey USA version (also carrying the catalogue number E-4484) featured gatefold covers with inner notes by Eric Burdon, Kojak's copy of this LP is numbered SE-4484 and has "manufactured and distributed in Australia under licenece" printed on the back of the album sleave.

The New Animals: The new world different from the old with new jewels to be consumed, new frontiers to be won, and much more love to be given. The recognition of pain and ecstasy to know that they are both there in the pit of my stomach, and can be turned on or off as easily as a stereo colour TV set. I love you all, and want you to gain something from these new sounds as I gain from listening to my saints in past years. If you feel alone and confused and unhappy discontented, just know that I (and there are many like me) love you, and maybe you will know why I am happy contented and unconfused. The games I play are mostly games of children (not all) happy games, games of love, games of mystery, games of wonder, please excuse my games of fear and jealousy, I'm only human after all and still a student of life. Maybe the next production will be all games of love, but by then I could be in another world ... (from the front cover of the album).
by Adamus67

Tracks
01. Winds of Change 3:59
02. Poem by the Sea 2:15
03. Paint It Black 5:56
04. The Black Plague 5:55
05. Yes I Am Experienced 3:36
06. San Franciscan Nights 3:16
07. Man-Woman 6:02
08. Hotel Hell 4:12
09. Good Times 2:57
10. Anything 3:19
11. It's All Meat 2:00
Bonus Tracks
12. Good Times (Mono Single Version) 2:57
13. Ain't That So (Single B-Side, UK) 3:24
14. San Francisco Nights (Mono Single Version) 3:16
15. Gratefully Dead (Single B-Side, UK) 3:59

Tha Animals
*Danny McCulloch - Bass
*Barry Jenkins - Drums
*Vic Briggs - Guitar, Piano, Vibes
*John Weider - Guitar, Violin
*Eric Burdon - Vocals

1964-67  The Animals - The Complete French EP
1967  Eric Is Here
1968  The Twain Shall Meet (2013 japan SHM double disc remaster)
1966-68  Roadrunners! Rare Live And Studio Recordings

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Eric Burdon And The Animals - Eric Is Here (1967 uk, classic psych blues rock)

This album made during the transition between the original Animals and the new line-up, the title of Eric Burdon & the Animals is sort of a misnomer. For the most part, the songs were Eric Burdon backed by the Horace Ott Orchestra, to add to the general confusion surrounding this material, some of it seems to have been recorded with the original Animals, or at sessions conducted while they were still together.

The reason Ott was on Eric is Here is that it was released during a gap between the time the original configuration of The Animals broke up and a new one could be put together, hence the stand-in band. It doesn't sound much like either version of the Animals and it is certainly not representative of their image. It does however demonstrate Burdon's vocal range and expression. The opening "In the Night" may be the best song but "Help Me Girl" was actually a top 40 hit in the U.S. In a way most of the songs remind me of several soundtracks from movies made in the sixties. Eric's voice singing orchestrated pop songs this isn't really that bad of an album in a novel sort of way,songs are jazzy, orchestrated pop that contains influence from the Beach Boys primarily Pet Sounds. It also has a soul/ Motown feel to it with a touch of Otis Redding and country Jerry Lee Lewis. Eric's vocals are very impassioned and he sings with conviction in interepting these songs like Billie Holiday (one of his idols) and Frank Sinatra.

Eric is Here (LP) USA 1967 - MGM Records Issued in stereo (SE-4433) and mono (E-4433) versions with minor variation to wording on LP covers. The recordings on this album are credited to Eric Burdon & The Animals. The Animals had however already disintegrated and the new line up (to be known as Eric Burdon & The Animals) had not yet been put together. The tracks were recorded by Eric Burdon with Barry Jenkins on drums and various studio musicians before Weider, Briggs and McCulloch were recruited.

Produced by Tom Wilson. Reached #121 on US charts. Re-relesed in CD format in USA (One Way Records OW31376). The album features the work of various very serious songwriting talent of the day, with Burdon on vocals backed up by the orchestra.

Tracks
1. In the Night (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart)
2. Mama Told Me Not To Come (Randy Newman)
3. I Think It's Gonna Rain Today (Randy Newman)
4. On This Side of Goodbye (Carole King, Gerry Goffin)
5. That Ain't Where It's At (Martin Siegel)
6. True Love (Comes Only Once In A Lifetime) (Bob Haley, Neval Nader)
7. Help Me Girl (Scott English, Lawrence Weiss)
8. Wait Till Next Year (Randy Newman)
9. Losin' Control (Carl D'Errico, Roger Atkins)
10.It's Not Easy (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil)
11.The Biggest Bundle of Them All (Richie Cordell, Sal Trimachi)
12.It's Been A Long Time Comin' (Joe Brooks, Jimmy Radcliffe)

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The Kinks - Present Schoolboys In Disgrace (1976 uk, smart brit rock, 2004 SACD)

If one were to simplify the old guard of British rock & roll by drawing a straight line, left to right, between the angelic Beatles and the demonic Rolling Stones, one would probably place the Who slightly to the left of the Stones and the Kinks a couple of notches to the right of the Beatles but well to the left of Townshend and Company. Ray Davies may display a full share of Dionysian darkness and disorder at times, but his craziness is usually admirable and engaging, and the Kinks, if idiosyncratic, are essentially lovable.

Perhaps never more so than on Schoolboys in Disgrace, probably their best LP since Everybody's in Showbiz and a welcome relief from the ambitious but tired Preservation Act opus. Since Davies seems curiously committed to the concept album (the disappointing Soap Opera was the last), the least one can ask is that he pull it off without having to shore up his exposition by using aesthetically weak material. Schoolboys is a bit thin in spots — "Education" sounds like longwinded filler; "No More Looking Back" is no "Waterloo Sunset" — but it boasts at least one major song ("Headmaster") and several highly enjoyable minor ones, many of them composed and performed in delightful full-throttle, neo-Fifties and Sixties rock & roll styles. The story, according to a red-herring liner note, recounts the formative years of Mr. Flash of Preservation Act fame, ostensibly letting us in on why he became such "a hard and bitter character ... [who] in future ... would always get what he wanted." In actuality, most of the record is lovingly, even sentimentally, nostalgic ("Schooldays were the happiest days of your life/ ... And I'd go back if I could only find a way") and even the bad times don't seem to have left any permanent damage.

The bad times include a (possibly) blameless romantic misadventure with a ravishing Lolita ("It wasn't lust, it wasn't rape/It was just a mistake") and a traumatic caning by the cruel headmaster. "I'm in Disgrace" is a terrific rock & roll song about erotic confusion and shame, and the musically wonderful "Headmaster" rises to true desperation with its final sexual imagery of cane and bare ass: "Don't tell all my friends I bent over/ ... Don't make me take my trousers down." After the beating, however, Schoolboys reverts quickly to its basic comic structure, reestablishing the tone which has been set by such sunny parodies as "Jack the Idiot Dunce" and "The First Time We Fall in Love." Vocally, Davies sounds like he's putting on even the Band in parts of "Schooldays" and "The Last Assembly."

Because it does not really try very hard to hit a seriocomic home run, Schoolboys in Disgrace isn't one of the Kinks' great albums. But the fact that its limited intentions are often exceeded by the sheer talent of its creators happily proves that this band from Muswell Hill is still a vital force in contemporary rock & roll.

by Paul Nelson, March 11, 1976

Tracks

1. Schooldays - 3:31

2. Jack The Idiot Dunce - 3:19

3. Education - 7:07

4. The First Time We Fall In Love - 4:01

5. I'm In Disgrace - 3:21

6. Headmaster - 4:03

7. The Hard Way - 2:35

8. The Last Assembly - 2:45

9. No More Looking Back - 4:27

10.Finale - 1:02

All songs by Ray Davies

The Kinks

*Ray Davies - Vocals, Guitar, Piano

*Dave Davies - Lead Guitar, Vocals

*Mick Avory - Drums

*John Dalton - Bass Guitar

*John Gosling - Keyboards

With

*John Beecham - Trombone

*Alan Holmes - Saxophones

*Nick Newell - Tenor Saxophone

*Pamela Travis - Background Vocals

*Debbie Doss - Background Vocals

*Shirley Roden - Background Vocals

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The Kinks - Everybody's In Show-Biz (1972 uk, classic album, 2003 MFSL Ultradisc)

Ray Davies continues to wear his English citizenship like a badge. The Kinks have often used American musical idioms — especially variations on Richard Berry's "Louie Louie," as revived by the Kingsmen and by the Kinks themselves — but Ray has regularly used his considerable songwriting talents to anatomize situations of class and culture that are peculiarly English. Years of touring, boozing, and occasionally brawling onstage with his lead guitarist brother Dave haven't diminished it. His nostalgia for the afternoon of the Empire, and his interest in the music hall/vaudeville traditions of his youth, continue unabated. His early efforts at the stand-up crooner idiom were often exquisite, especially "Sunny Afternoon" and "End of the Season," and most recently he has shown ingenuity in adapting fashionable rock currents to his obsession. Muswell Hillbillies, for example, used the idea that the cockneys are England's answer to the American cracker to validate a series of country & western essays that managed to maintain an implacably British flavor.

Everybody's in Showbiz, a double album containing a studio and a live record, is Ray's first extended look at America. The new songs deal for the most part with touring, and with the difference between Hollywood stereotypes and American reality, the live record comprises hard rock and vaudeville material from recent Kinks albums performed with juiced gusto, high spirits, and occasional rank sloppiness. But the four sides hold together remarkably well, since most of the song situations deal with show business and its facade of tinsel and celluloid. While the Rolling Stones on their two-record set sing about a mythical American South to music that suggests a chemically augmented roadhouse band in some improbable Arkansas, the Kinks sing about an only partially mythical freeway to Hollywood. Their tunes roll and lurch along, with born arrangements that forcibly reminded an English friend of the BBC Northern Light Dance Orchestra, several Gilbert and Sullivan-style mock-oratorios, and a Buckingham Palaceful of vaudevillian quavers and music hall ivory tickling. Some listeners may find parts of the album revoltingly reminiscent of the kind of entertainment favored by their mums and dads, but Davies isn't just trying to become the new Val Doonican; in fact, he seems to be magnifying and exaggerating the excesses of show business in order to call attention to its essentially grotesque character.

The album is not the homogeneously delightful sort of LP the Kinks were once known for; it has its ups and downs, its lapses and its masterpieces. The opener, "Here Comes Yet Another Day," is a fashionably bored touring song ("tune up, start to play/just like any other day") that rocks along nicely but has a curiously (and perhaps intentionally) unfinished quality; several of the breaks sound like a rhythm track waiting for a solo, and the tinny Toussaint-style horns don't help much. "Maximum Consumption" describes the touring rocker as a "maximum consumption nonstop machine" and compares him to the inefficient, gas-gulping, often quickly discarded American automobile ("I'm so easy to drive/and I'm an excellent ride"). Beginning with images of abandoned and undifferentiated consumption and moving into more specifically unappealing comparisons, "Maximum Consumption" is the thematic meat of the album. Musically it's excellent, with a deliberately loping beat and an excellent mix of Dave's slide guitar and the trad jazz horns. "Unreal Reality" has more of the "Mike Cotton Sound," a garish and determinedly awful trumpet-clarinet-trombone trio that's trebly and piercing and just right for the effect Ray's tunes convey.

"Hot Potatoes" is a Davies domestic situation, cast this time in a mold that resembles a Little Eva record instrumentally and has excellent ensemble work by the band. "Sitting in My Hotel Room" is a bonafide Kinks Klassic, dreamily wistful with a beautiful melody and featuring "the exquisite Mr. John Gosling at the pianoforte." The Hollywood mystique and the reality of lonely hotel rooms and interminable turnpike driving collide head-on through much of side two. "Motorway" has the most memorably apt opening line of the album: "Motorway food is the worst in the world." It's a country rocker with nice finger-picking from Dave and a memorable organ riff from Gosling. "You Don't Know My Name" is another near-incomprehensible but strangely satisfying song from brother Dave. There's a "Going up the Country" flute break (seems both Stones and Kinks are picking up a few tricks from old Canned Heat records) and a schizophrenic structure that's unsettling at first but ultimately appealing.

"Supersonic Rocket Ship" is quintessential Ray Davies. It invites the listener to travel the spaceways in a sort of flying Victorian music box that tinkles away with all the flavor of a period tintype. The words are quite explicit, and the following tune, "Look a Little on the Sunny Side," is even more so. The rock business is show business; a rock group running through its hits, trying to please an essentially frivolous audience, isn't much different from a stand-up comic in Las Vegas or Rex Harrison doing Dr. Doolittle or The Ed Sullivan Show. Ray isn't likely to win a lot of new converts by emphasizing this truism, but he makes it perfectly clear that on his rocket ship "nobody has to be hip/nobody needs to be out of sight." This goes a long way toward explaining why the Kinks are so durable; no trippy giggles here, no heavy metal warlocks, just "a round, unvarnished tale" with plenty of belly laughs and solid rock & roll along the way.

"Celluloid Heroes" is the watershed of the album. It's a masterful, fully-realized six-minute cut with one of Ray's very best vocals and several of his finest, quirkiest, most original lines. Gosling, a relatively recent addition to the band, proves his worth with some tasteful, shimmering piano, and Dave, drummer Mick Avory, and bassist John Dalton contribute effective backup, with nothing out of place. The album could have ended here, but there are two more live sides. These sound at times like a juiced Jersey bar band with a semi-pro horn section chiming in. "Top of the Pops," from the Lola album, has contagious, raw power and an exciting feedback break from Dave. Ray clowns with Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song," "Baby Face," and a mercifully brief "Mr. Wonderful." His performance of "Alcohol," one of the best tunes from Muswell Hillbillies, is almost scary. The Staten Island audience is obviously dominated by juicers and reds freaks, and they contribute shrieks and screams that are most apropos. Ray slurs his words and draws out the verses until it seems the whole band is about to fall headlong into the gutter. This is the definitive recording of the song, cutting the studio version by a mile. Ray's MC work throughout is like that of a popular British TV compere ... everybody's in show-biz.

Despite its faults and its unevenness, this is a delightfully varied, endlessly entertaining album; its best moments equal or surpass the best rock & roll of the last few years. And the indications are that Ray Davies is just beginning to loosen up.
by Bob Palmer

Tracks
1. Here Comes Another Day - 3:53
2. Maximum Consumption - 4:04
3. Unreal Reality - 3:32
4. Hot Potatoes - 3:25
5. Sitting In My Hotel - 3:20
6. Motorway - 3:28
7. You Don't Know My Name - 2:34
8. Supersonic Rocket Ship - 3:29
9. Look A Little On The Sunnyside - 2:47
10.Celluloid Heroes - 6:19
11.Top Of The Pops - 4:33
12.Brainwashed - 2:59
13.Mr. Wonderful (George David Weiss, Jerrold L. Bock, Lawrence Holofcener) - 0:42
14.Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - 4:00
15.Holiday - 3:53
16.Muswell Hillbilly - 3:10
17.Alcohol - 5:19
18.Banana Boat Song (Irving Burgie, William A. Attaway) - 1:42
19.Skin And Bone - 3:54
20.Baby Face (Benny Davis, Harry Akst) - 1:54
21.Lola - 1:40
22.Till The End Of The Day - 2:00
23.She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina - 3:04
All songs by Raymond Douglas Davies except where stated

The Kinks and
*Ray Davies - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Resonator Guitar
*Dave Davies - Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Banjo, Backing Vocals, 12-String Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
*John Dalton - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
*John Gosling - Keyboards
*Mick Avory - Drums
*Mike Cotton - Trumpet
*John Beecham - Trombone, Tuba
*Alan Holmes - Saxophone, Clarinet
*Dave Rowberry - Organ

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