Byrds-like folk rock (‘Don’t Know Why You Bother Child’) and Dylan-ish blues (‘The Vicar And The Pope’). Besides the inclusion of two non-LP single sides, there’s a second CD of pre-album demos, of which it’s only the first one (‘A Little Piece Of Her’) that deviates from the general concept, being much closer to The Action’s blue-eyed soul. Goran Obradovic
LEE HAZLEWOOD Movin’ On Ace CD
www.acerecords.co.uk
The first CD reissue of Hazlewood’s 1977 album, which is the second-to-last record he made in Sweden and something he did shortly before
going into atwo decade recording hiatus. The album is a bit of a hodgepodge of cover versions, re-recordings of tracks that appeared on earlier records, and a couple of songs written by a guy named Joe Nixon – an aspiring LA singer-songwriter who was a Hazlewood crony at the time. Most of the material has the signature Hazlewood sound –that foggy lounge feel that is something like a glass of scotch with a cloud of marijuana smoke around it. But just when you get relaxed and think you know what’s coming, you are hit with the disco drumming on ‘I’ve Got To Be Moving,’the bombastic guitar on ‘Let’s Burn Down The Cornfield,’ and the jokey novelty moment, ‘Kung Fu You.’ Someone just turning on to the wonder of Lee Hazlewood will want to start with the albums Cowboy In Sweden or Requiem For An Almost Lady, or some of
JIMMY CAMPBELL Son Of Anastasia Half Baked Jimmy Campbell’s Album All Esoteric CDs
www.cherryred.co.uk
Jimmy Campbell’s star has risen significantly of late. After a lifetime of being revered by a dedicated few, archival compilations of his earliest recordings with The
Kirkbys and The 23rd Turnoff and the reissue of his early ’70s Merseybeat masterpiece as a member of Rockin’ Horse have raised awareness of the Liverpool songsmith to hysterical levels – a status tragically sealed by his death last year. By the time his solo career began in ’69
Campbell had basically retired from the music business after almost a decade of standard beat group activity – slogging round Northern clubs, “character building” Hamburg sojourns, one-off single deals and fleeting moments of success in far- flung territories (in this case, Finland). While most of his contemporaries lost their grip as psychedelia and singer-songwriter introversion took hold in ’67, Campbell rode the change with ease. The 23rd Turnoff’s lone single ‘Michelangelo’ is now rightly
the Nancy & Lee material. But for those of us already well under the spell, this odd and rare record is a must have. Brian Greene
PAUL HIBBETS Childhood Dream Erebus CD
For those who like their albums liturgic rather than lysergic, comes this Xian treat from the early ’70s. There’s a jammy west- coast love-in type feel to most of the
songs with a fair few flakes of fuzz sprinkled here and there to add a hit of heavy flavour. There’s no messianic vibe like DR
Hooker or cultish weirdness like The Concrete Rubber Band for those listeners looking for the full-on Jesus trip, instead a pleasing, dreamy organ-led richness to all the songs and the odd Biblical quotation shoehorned awkwardly into the lyrics. Some country and folk moves are present and correct and it all hangs together nicely. The stand out track is ‘Love God’s
Little Children’, with a surprise monster fuzz riff punching out the middle of the song. A couple of the songs are a little lame in the mainstream yawn-a-thon tradition but overall the quality is strong. I’d rate this as about one third killer, equal to the best Xian albums out there. The remainder is strong and the whole thing is very worthy of rediscovery. Austin Matthews
THE KAPLAN BROTHERS Nightbird Erebus CD The Kaplan Brothers were a fraternal hotel
regarded as a psych classic and is revisited on Son Of Anastasia, the first and most indispensable of his three solo albums.
Besides some out of place wah-wah flourishes on the single ‘On A Monday’ – such trappings are nowhere to be heard here. Instead you get Jimmy sat alone with his trusty beaten-up
acoustic six-string essentially demoing 16 songs he favoured at the time. You can hear the stool squeak. They sound like missives from another world. One- and two-minute odes to lost childhood, doomed relationships, being skint, the second world war, the working life and train travel – delivered in Jimmy’s plaintive voice, cracking with nerves and broad of accent, and imbued with such sadness and sincerity that even today I struggle to think of a comparison. It’s like the ’60s never happened to Jimmy, and, in many ways, they probably never did. This music comes from a time and place unfamiliar to most of us and that, I think, is what makes it so compelling.
His songs did get out there, albeit in small
doses. Rolf Harris recorded ‘Salvation Army Citadel’ and Billy Fury cut half a dozen Campbell songs – somehow making the incredibly personal ‘In My Room’ all his own in the process. Meanwhile friends
lobby act that put out three albums in the mid-70s in a deluded attempt to crack the big time. The most famous of these, Nightbird, is a one of a kind lounge-prog fusion
wig-out that just about succeeds despite the gigantic wealth of factors against it. The brothers have a few musical
peccadilloes that make their sound quite unlike anything you’ve heard before; the frequently tasteless and utterly indiscriminate use of the mellotron can only be commended, though the same can’t be said for the irritating whistling that poops over several tracks. All the vocals are rendered in a baritone crooner style that will doubtless annoy some of you, though their cheesiness adds to the overall appeal for me. The whole album has a morbid
downbeat tone that works pretty well and I’m guessing there’s some grand prog concept linking all the songs together but I’m damned if I could work out what it was. Great stuff – I’d go as far as to say
this is the lounge-prog reissue of the year! Austin Matthews
LINDISFARNE Lindisfarne At The BBC (The Charisma Years 1971-1973) Virgin 2-CD
It’s easy to forget from this remove just how fiercely loved Lindisfarne were in their early ’70s day of hey. A galvanic, communal and celebratory live
and allies such as Billy Kinsley (whose impassioned vocals and dextrous bass playing give the Rockin’ Horse album much of its signature) sneaked songs like ‘Penny In My Pocket’ onto Merseys B-sides while Jimmy worked menial jobs to pay the rent. Half Baked appeared in ’70 with half the
songs featuring an electric band comprised of Kinsley, fellow Merseybeat Tony Crane and guest appearances from the likes of Badfinger’s Joey Molland. The closing ‘Don’t Leave Me Now’ is as gut-wrenching as anything Jimmy recorded but the production and arrangements are overbearing at times.
Following the Rockin’ Horse project in ’71, Jimmy recorded a dozen songs alone in a single sitting for his contractual obligation album, the worthlessly- titled Jimmy Campbell’s Album.
When he’d finished he went home to Liverpool and took no part in its completion. It’s a mixed set but not the shambles it’s been painted as. And that was that. Newcomers should probably start with
Half Baked – its rock setting gives it a certain accessibility. For those seeking to explore and enjoy the true heart of this working class bard, go for Son Of Anastasia and prepare yourself for a truly unique and emotional experience. Andy Morten
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