1960s
THE EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND The Harvest Years 1969-1973 EMI 4-CD
All of the Broughtons’ digitally remastered Harvest catalogue on four CDs – including five studio albums, singles A and B-sides and a previously unreleased live recording. It’s a pity the liner notes are so skimpy. The EBB were always more overtly
political than their early ’70s “people’s band” counterparts. If Hawkwind brought the freeform freakiness and The Pink Fairies rock ’n’ rolled the joint with good time cosmic boogie, then the Broughtons provided the rabble-rousing revolutionary rhetoric and foot-stomping tribalism. Nowhere is this more evident than on their first album, Wasa Wasa, an intoxicating concoction of heavy electric blues, brain- melting heavy metal and satire. They subsequently released singles that combined Beefheart’s ‘Drop Out Boogie’ with The Shadows’ ‘Apache’ and appropriated The Fugs’ infamous Pentagon exorcism and turned it into the tribalistic blues chant ‘Out Demons Out’. Next album, Sing Brother Sing, displays
an element of conceptual theatricality – especially on ‘The Moth’ and ‘Psychopath’ – on which Edgar is suitably creepy as the titular child
molester.The hurtling juggernaut that is ‘Momma’s Reward (Keep Them Freaks-A-Rollin’)’ and the funky ‘There’s No Vibrations But Wait’ being other standout tracks. Having utilised orchestral string arrangements on their eponymous third album – most notably on the sublime ‘Evening Over Rooftops’ and ‘For Dr Spock’ – subsequent releases continued a gradual mellowing in musical direction. The hauntingly beautiful single ‘Hotel Room’ bridged this and fourth album In Side Out. ‘Sister Angela’ and the rocking ‘I Got Mad (Soledad)’ are paeans to black power activists Angela Davis and George Jackson, whilst ‘Homes Fit For Heroes’ is done in the best protest folk tradition. Musically, the last Harvest album, Oora,
is a consistently solid piece of work, and certainly has its moments – there’s still the odd concession to right-on issues too – see ‘Eviction’. But in reality, by the time it was released in 1973 the underground scene was in disarray and glam-rock had stolen the thunder of many bands like the Broughtons, and with it their momentum. But lest we forget why they deserve that proto-punk tag they are now so often labelled with, the bonus live recording from Hyde Park in ’70 bears testimony to just how incendiary they were in their underground heyday. Rich Deakin
THE DOORS The Doors: Mono Edition Rhino LP
www.rhino.com
This takes me back to that triumphant day in the late ’60s when I cycled to the local record shop and snarfed up the record
that had been staring at me from the bins since its release in early 1967. It was in mono then so this is the version I know like the back of my hand: thick with atmosphere and resonance as those classics work their magic. The remastering for 180-gram vinyl has
been overseen by original engineer Bruce Botnick, adding new depth and clarity (and it’s great having it at this size again!). Obviously, much of The Doors’ current audience came to know the album through later CDs and box sets and is already bound to possess the lysergic landmarks contained herein. Ultimately this will be a prized acquisition for Doors super fans and completists, plus pathetic sods like me trying to relive the inestimable impact this record made when it first appeared. Kris Needs
JOAO GILBERTO O Amor, O Sorriso E A Flor él CD
www.elrecords.co.uk
If one track sums up the understated class of this, Joao Gilberto’s second album and the follow up to his 1958 debut Chega De
Saudade, look no further than the uncluttered elegance of ‘Samba De Uma Nota So’ (AKA ‘One Note Samba’). Produced by Antonio Carlos Jobim, O
Amor, O Sorriso E A Flor (The Love, The Smile And The Flower) is nothing less than a sprinkling of gold dust from the wellspring of bossa nova. Just listen to Gilberto’s sublime readings of Jobim’s ‘Meditacao’ and ‘Corcovado’ for further proof. In addition to the original 12-track
The Broughtons: “Let’s levitate The Roundhouse!” 108
album, this deluxe reissue comes with no less than 22 bonus tracks in the form of assorted late ’50s/early ’60s covers of originals by Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius De Moraes, Carlos Lyra and others from an impressive range of artists including Sergio Mendes, Sylvia Telles, Walter Wanderley, Agostinho Dos Santos and Orquestra Pan American with Os Cariocas. Grahame Bent
THE GOODEES Condition Red! The Complete Goodees Ace CD
www.acerecords.com
The Goodees are most well known for the Shangri-Las lite ‘Condition Red’, one of the very last hits to fit in squarely with the
classic “girl group sound”. Released in 1968 on Stax’s rock-oriented Hip subsidiary, it was a melodramatic ode to a hedonistic motorbike driver and earned the girls local success in Memphis and wider national exposure. On the back of it, The Goodees recorded a patchy album the following year, Candy Coated Goodees, bringing in some now-ancient girl group covers like ‘He’sA Rebel’ alongside more interesting work, like the heavy stomp of ‘Double Shot’ and the sensitive Jimmy Webb song, ‘Worst That Could Happen’. This compilation reproduces the album in
full, along with other sides the group released for Hip, including the sweet soul of ‘For A Little While’. There are also seven unreleased (and largely undistinguished) tracks rounding out the package. The Goodees were good. Not great, though. Jeanette Leech
EARTHA KITT & SHORTY ROGERS St Louis Blues ANN-MARGARET & AL HIRT Personalities VARIOUS ARTISTS Odd Couples: What Were They Thinking? All Bear Family CDs
www.bear-family.de
Bear Family’s new series The Velvet Lounge gets off to a good start with these three titles. Eartha Kitt and
Shorty Rogers’ St Louis Blues (1958), Ann- Margaret and Al Hirt’s Personalities (which combines tracks from Beauty And The Beard (’63) and Bear Family’s 5-CD Ann-Margaret box set) and the anthology Odd Couples: What Were They Thinking?, which showcases the history of unlikely cross generic pairings of artistes throughout the lounge/easy listening/exotica heyday of the ’50s and the first half of the ’60s. Unlikely double acts celebrated here include Eddy Arnold & Esquivel, Perry Como & The Sons Of The Pioneers, Tennessee Ernie Ford & Kay Starr, Don Gibson & Los Indios Tabajaras and Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Red Foley. Grahame Bent
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