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PRODUCT REISSUES NEW REISSUES / CATALOGUE ALBUMS
SIMON & GARFUNKEL • The Complete Albums Collection (Columbia/Legacy 88875009062)
One of the best of the plethora of box sets that tend to proliferate this time of year, The Complete
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Albums Collection includes nothing not already available by Simon & Garfunkel but earns its release by dint of the fact that it includes the duo’s five studio albums (originally released between 1964 and 1970) in new remasters from first generation analog sources plus first ever remasters of The Graduate soundtrack and The Concert In Central Park and three further live sets, making a total of 11 titles and 12 discs (The Concert In Central Park is a double) packaged in a sturdy box alongside a book housing new liner notes. The individual albums are contained in cardboard facsimile album sleeves, bearing the original artwork. Paul Simon’s intelligent lyrics and sublime melodies found a perfect foil in the understated vocal style of Art Garfunkel, and while the duo had a shaky personal relationship,
they certainly made beautiful music together, popularising and re-defining the folk genre as they went. Their fifth and final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, is their defining meisterwork, with the uptempo but lyrically downbeat Cecilia, the sublime Only Living Boy In New York; the whimsical So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright; and the stunningly powerful title track among the highlights. Simon’s lyrical poeticism and concise melodies, and Garfunkel’s soothing harmonies provide endless enjoyment not only in the studio albums but also on the live recordings here,. Overall it is a superb set, although it would have been nice if at least one of the many superb bootleg live recordings doing the rounds were to be included.
THE CRYAN’ SHAMES • Sugar & Spice (Now Sounds CRNOW 51)
A pop/rock band from Chicago whose otherwise raw sound was moderated by their excellent
harmonies, The Cryan’ Shames’ 1966 debut album Sugar & Spice
was recorded over just two days, and contains four original songs written by guitarist Jim Fairs and seven covers. Now released on CD for the first time from the original mono masters, this highly rated album is made further desirable by the inclusion of six bonus tracks, also sourced from the original tape. Fairs’ compositions are impressive, especially the bouncy I Wanna Meet You, which has a Beatlesque quality and the Beatles themselves are covered. A full colour booklet with comprehensive liner notes by Rolling Stones writer Scott Schinder and a selection of rare photos completes an excellent package.
IAN DURY • The Studio Albums Collection (Edsel EDSB 4016)
Their original succinct nature and effectiveness compromised by a series of increasingly
bloated expanded reissues over the years, the eight albums Ian Dury recorded both with and without The Blockheads, are stripped of
bonus tracks and presented as originally conceived here in an excellent box set which adds a bonus CD to hoover up important missing tracks. Available both on CD in a clamshell box, and as a chunky vinyl set pressed on 180g virgin vinyl, they provide a real flavour of the ‘Bard of Billericay’, a complex character who wrote both humorous and profound songs spanning music hall, pop, punk and disco and delivered them with a distinctive gravelly Cockney voice. A polio victim who was older than most of his peers when punk exploded in the late 1970s, Dury made light of both his disability and his age to become a dynamic stage presence and one of the genre’s early successes. His 1977 debut album, New Boots And Panties!! is full of witty examples of Dury’s wordplay and populated by an imaginary cast including Plaistow Patricia, Bellericay Dickie, Clever Trevor and Sweet Gene Vincent. As good as they were, Dury’s career only really took off when subsequent singles Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, What A Waste and Reasons To Be Cheerful Part III became hits. They were added
belatedly to New Boots And Panties - but for the purpose of this release can be found on the bonus disc.
VARIOUS • Satisfaction Guaranteed: Motown Guys 1961-69 (Kent CDTOP 424)
A companion release to 2013’s Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-67, this is yet another in
the increasingly long (and worthy) list of releases liberating previously unreleased Motown recordings from the archives. As with Finders Keepers, it is staggeringly good, showing that Motown’s quality control at the time set the bar remarkably high. There are 24 songs here, each by a different act, among them both those who are largely unknown - like The Quails and The Headliners - and those who are household names, including The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. The tracks are fully annotated, with recording dates and a welter of background information in a fine 16 page booklet.
28.11.14 Music Week 45
Contact Karma Bertelsen, 020 7226 7246,
kbertelsen@nbmedia.com
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