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July / August 2003
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 LOU REED |
 NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE |
 ASSOCIATION |
 THE SHADOWS |
 JACK BRUCE |
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JETHRO
TULL A Passion Play (Chrysalis / Capitol)
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LOU
REED
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THE
ASSOCIATION
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THE
SHADOWS A's B's & EP's (EMI)
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JACK
BRUCE
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By
1971 Jethro Tull were so huge and Ian Anderson was such
a rock cult hero that they could be so daring to invent a new musical
language which resulted in their 1972 album Thick As A Brick and
in a similar spirit, their 1973 follow of A Passion Play.
Perhaps Tull decided one last time to create something that went
beyond the 3 or 4 minute rock song, which of course they would return
to with their next full length CD War Child. Blessed by Tull’s
embryonic approach to progressive jazz and chamber rock, A Passion
Play remains a high point among all their 70’s titles. The
EMI/Chrysalis Records 2003 CD version sounds great and features the
artwork from the Lp along plus an enhanced track with the never before
seen video for “The Hare That Lost His Spectacles”. Tull bassist,
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond’s performance here is in a word,
amazing. In a related windfall for Tull fans, Chrysalis have also done
the right thing with 2003 reissues of of Tull’s 1977 and ‘78
albums Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses,
each repackaged with new liner notes by Ian and a pair of bonus tracks
apiece.
From
the liner notes of Lou Reed’s 2003 double CD retrospective David
Bowie states, “Lou brought rock into the avant garde. He gave
us the environment in which to put out our more theatrical vision.”
Lou’s glam rock classic Transformer and his legendary live
set from 1974, Rock And Roll Animal remain rock staples, but
as this double CD clearly depicts, Lou Reed could rock and roll with
the best of them. Instead of putting together a basic CD set of his
biggest and best, Lou went one step beyond, sequencing past and present
tracks with various live and alternate cuts. In Lou’s own words,
“We’ve been trying to construct this double CD set from the
point of view of which songs relate to each other in the best fashion,
not from a chronological point of view”. There’s several key
tracks—such as “Sweet Jane”, “Rock ‘N’
Roll” and “I”m Waiting For The Man”—from his
days with Velvet Underground and bringing the story up to date,
disc one kicks off with a previously unreleased version of “Who
Am I?” from Lou’s 2003 album The Raven. A
fascinating overview of rock’s most compelling and pioneering singer-songwriters,
NYC Man: The Collection—complete with track by track liner
notes from Lou and 20 pages of illustrative memorabilia—will amaze
devotees and newcomers alike. 
A
group of musicians long associated with The Grateful Dead, the New Riders
featured the incredibly gifted vocals, songwriting and acoustic guitar
work of John Dawson (a/k/a Marmaduke). The self-titled
N.R.P.S. album debut was released in 1971 and it was an instant
smash with the Dead heads and—with songs like “Dirty Business”,
“Last Lonely Eagle” and the set closer “Louisiana Lady”—even
today, the album remains one of the finest psychedelic country albums
of the early ‘70s. In addition to the core group of Marmaduke,
David Nelson (guitar) and Dave Torbert (bass), the N.R.P.S.
album also spotlights contributions from Jerry Garcia (pedal
steel, banjo) drummers Spencer Dryden and Mickey Hart along
with the piano work of Commander Cody. Sporting an all-star musical
crew and a memorable lineup of tracks, Legacy’s 2003 CD reissue
of the fabled N.R.P.S. album is rounded off by three bonus tracks
from a July 2, 1971 Fillmore West show and new liner notes from Rob
Bleetstein. Coinciding with the Legacy reissue of the first New
Riders album on CD comes New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Live:
Worcester, MA 4/4/73. The double CD live release on the
Santa Monica-based Kufala Recordings is a fine representation
of just how effective the band sounded in concert. Decked out with cool
bootleg-style artwork, the album benefits from quite decent sound quality.
A
company that’s turning out to be one of the great reissue record
labels, Collector’s Choice Music reissued six albums from
California rock legends The Association. The six CD titles include Renaissance
(1966), Insight Out (1967), Birthday (1968),
The Association (1969), The Association: Live (live
concert from April 3, 1970), and Stop Your Motor (their
last Warner Bros. record Lp 1971). In the spirit of great California
pop harmony groups like The Beach Boys and The Mamas & The Papas,
The Association are best known for their breakthru debut single “Along
Comes Mary”—one of the great AM radio singles from the Summer
of ‘66—along with other favorites like “Windy” and
“Never My Love” (both featured on their Insight Out album).
Missing from this bunch of CC CD reissues is the group’s first
album And Then...Along Comes The Association, but these six 2003
reissues are the first ever U.S. CD releases of these titles and overall
they should please fans no end. No bonus tracks, but the excellent CD
mastering by Bill Inglot really improves the sound compared to
the Japanese reissues from a few years back. The Association: Live
features all their big hits while the five other titles—each
complete with insightful liner notes by rock scribe Richie Unterberger
and the group’s co-founder Jim Yester—offers valuable
insight into just how influential the Association continues to be. 
Over
in London, EMI continues to find interesting ways to market the
back catalog of England’s greatest guitar instrumental group The
Shadows. A’s B’s & EP’s features 24 Shadows
tracks originally released on singles and their EP’s between 1961-1964.
Back in the ‘60s, EP's were usually a 7" 45 record with 2
or 3 tracks per side that were usually produced to take advantage of
the teenage market. With their prodigious output of guitar-based instrumentals
and vocal tracks, The Shadows were always up for the task and these
24 tracks, featuring some of their great covers and originals, represent
some of their best tracks taken from classic Shadows’ EP’s
like Wonderful Land Of The Shadows and Shindig
With The Shadows. Perhaps the most amazing thing here is how
great these original mono masters have translated onto CD. Soundwise,
EMI has come a long way since their early Shadows’ CDs from the
mid ‘80s and A’s B’s & EP’s is a splendid
introduction to their enormous legacy. Fans of EMI’s classic artists
should also check out EMI's A’s B’s & EP’s from
The Animals and Manfred Mann. 
Not
too long after the break up of Cream, bass great and rock legend
Jack Bruce released his first solo album in 1969, Songs For A Tailor.
Nearly the opposite of the guitar-based power trio sound of Cream,
Songs For A Tailor featured Bruce backed up by session guitar
ace Chris Spedding, drummer Jon Hiseman, sax icon Dick
Heckstall Smith and long time lyricist Pete Brown. Jack’s
first solo album was more in the adventurous Cream spirit than the first
solo album from Cream bandmate Eric Clapton, yet amidst all the musical
greatness, this was 1969, the album was strangely overlooked. Bruce
returned in 1971 for an album that some still think is his best solo
album ever, Harmony Row. A full-bodied, brilliantly
engineered musical extravaganza featuring Spedding, Brown with drummer
John Marshall in tow, Harmony Row was an even more amazing
album than Songs For A Tailor and it’s avant-gard pop edge
further distanced Bruce from the mainstream. Bruce would return again
in the ‘70s with solo classics such as Out Of The Storm
(1974) and How’s Tricks (1977), but his first
two albums remain monuments from the pioneering days of progressive
jazz-rock. In 2003, through the auspices of Universal Music,
Bruce’s original label, Polydor reissued Songs For A
Tailor, Harmony Row, Out Of The Storm and How’s Tricks,
along with a till now, unreleased Bruce studio album from 1978 entitled
Jet Set Jewel. Recorded by Bruce with 1977’s
How’s Tricks lineup, including guitarist Hughie Burns,
Jet Set Jewel is a major rediscovery, now complete with historic
liner notes. Commenting on his early solo career from the liner notes
of Jet Set Jewel Jack comments, “I wasn’t looking for
vast commercial success with any of my solo albums. The people I look
up to are musicians like Duke Ellington and Count Basie who just carried
on performing. I never wanted to be a star. I just wanted to make good
music.” Each of these five newly remastered Jack Bruce albums are
repackaged with extensive liner notes, lyrics, rare photos and—with
the exception of Jet Set Jewel—bonus tracks. Released in
2003 in the U.K., these imported Jack Bruce reissue titles are available
in the U.S. through the catalog of Collector’s Choice Music.