on the album’s spectacularly vibrant title track, ‘Fogo Pago’, ‘Gago Apaixonado’, ‘Amor Em Jacuma’ and ‘Iboru Iboya’, Cravo E Canela even manage to completely Brazilify their funky reworking of Neil Sedaka’s‘Stupid Cupid’. All hail Mr Bongo for their sterling detective work in unearthing another gem. Grahame Bent
LINDISFARNE The Charisma Years 1970-1973 EMI 4-CD
It would be hard to find two more perfect albums than Lindisfarne’s debut Nicely Out Of Tune (1970) and their
follow up Fog On The Tyne (’71) and, whilst Dingley Dell (’72) is slightly weaker, this trinity of brilliance was to overshadow anything else the Geordie folk pop-rock band subsequently recorded. All three are here, along with Live (’73) and the weak Roll On Ruby (’73). An American sound, fused with English
Folk and Alan Hull’s empathic and witty lyrical style is evident on the hits ‘Lady
JIMMY CAMPBELL Live 1977 Viper download
www.the-viper-label.co.uk
Eleanor’ and ‘Meet Me On The Corner’ but these are just tasters for the plaintive ‘Road To Kingdom Come’, the achingly beautiful ‘Winter Song’ and eco-warriors’ battle hymn ‘All Fall Down’. The inclusion of rare material missing from previous album re-masters, such as the longer ‘Winter Song’ and various alternate US mixes, are puzzling bonuses given this package’s poor design and empty booklet, something EMI need to seriously get to grips with on future releases of this ilk. Richard Allen
THE SAINTS All Times Through Paradise EMI 4-CD
When the Saints’ ‘(I’m) Stranded’ appeared in September 1976, its monolithic buzz-saw guitar and moody vocals blew away enough writers to gain the group a major record contract. While
the country had been waiting for the first big punk single, this unknown bunch from
premature close or being truncated to avoid having to attempt the replication of instrumental passages) and the heart- breakingly vital. Of the 25 songs here (only two are omitted from the original tape due to
Brisbane, Australia, had steamed in, later making the Top 20 with ‘This Perfect Day’, letting their soul fixation through with the addition of hefty brass. Despite being a fiery, pioneering band,
The Saints never received proper credit, so this boxset containing their three EMI albums – [I’m] Stranded, Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds – is a welcome chunk of previously overlooked history, while long-time fans will relish the booklet and raft of outtakes and live recordings, including the One Two Three Four EP and sessions for Eternally Yours (International Robot). And that guitar sound can still blow the
bollocks off a gnu at 50 paces! Kris Needs
SOLERA Solera Vinilissimo LP
www.vinilissimo.com
Solera’s 1973 debut is a most pleasant “discovery” and will definitely appeal to those of you into all things Beatles-
technical problems), no less than 14 are otherwise unavailable and unheard by all but a lucky few. Jimmy’s estimable back catalogue is represented by a fairly ad-hoc selection
flavoured. Sung entirely in Spanish, Solera is comparable to the likes of We All Together or Emitt Rhodes in its virtuosity, and left me reeling – those first-class harmonies, with hooks and tunes a-plenty, all wrapped up with some nifty playing. I haven’t felt this good since I first heard Bread’s debut. Rafael Trabuchelli – Hispavox’s celebrated
producer – captures some staggering performances, keeping the lines clean and tight – a castellano Wish You Were Here (you heard it here first). Personal favourite, ‘El Discpulo De Merln’ is a triumph, catchier than a McCaulay/MacLeod chart-topper, with baroque orchestration to match either Mike Batt or Pete Dello’s prowess. Contender for album of the year in Shindig!’s “Hispanic Beatlesque” category! Louis Comfort-Wiggett
TRAFFIC John Barleycorn Must Die : Deluxe Edition Universal 2-CD Marking the start of a new phase for Traffic and originally intended as a Steve Winwood solo project, 1970’s John Barleycorn Must Die turned into a rebirth for Traffic –
When Mark Kelly invited his old pal Jimmy Campbell to perform at a poetry festival Kelly was organising at Essex University in 1977, Campbell’s star was fading fast. In the five years since his last release (’72’s Jimmy Campbell’s Album) he’d all but turned his back on the music industry, seemingly existing on a combination of sporadic royalty cheques and menial jobs in his native Liverpool. Live 1977 is a no-frills live recording of
Jimmy’s performance at the festival, captured on cassette in front of a small but appreciative audience of students, presumably oblivious to his history as one of our most contrary yet endearing singer- songwriters of the era. The performances – delivered with voice and acoustic guitar (apparently balanced on his knee as he’d forgotten his strap) into a single mic – veer between the shaky (many coming to a
dating back as far as ’67 (scrapped second 23rd Turnoff single ‘Another Vincent Van Gogh’) through his three solo albums (‘Lyanna’, ‘Don’t Leave Me Now’, ‘It Never Rains But It Pours’) and the sole outing from short-lived cult Mersey supergroup Rockin’ Horse (‘Biggest Gossip In Town’, ‘Baby Walk Out With Your Darling Man’ – complete with fluffed chords). The fact that he plays so much “new” material confirms that, despite his state of comparative retirement, he was still writing prolifically and could’ve carried on churning out records should that avenue have remained open to him. One senses that somehow that was never likely to have happened. Jimmy himself is in fine fettle throughout, making self-depreciating comments about his unfamiliarity with some of the material and blurting out oblique one-liners in a dense scouse accent that puts one eerily in mind of late ’60s John Lennon – Campbell’s contemporary and self-confessed idol. This is a remarkable artefact and
Jimmy Campbell in the days when we had a chair
absolutely essential to fans of Campbell’s unique craft. However, beginners are best pointed towards his albums Son Of Anastasia and Half-Baked and Rockin’ Horse’s Yes It Is – all readily available on CD – before they embark on this particular, peculiar journey. Andy Morten
113
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140