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Belle & Sebastian – The Jeepster Years

This month, I will be focusing on Belle and Sebastian, as well as the solo career of past member Isobel Campbell. I think the first time I heard of this band was when they won the British Breakthrough act at the Brit Awards in 1999. I did ask myself who they were especially as their victory annoyed Pete Waterman who felt that Steps, a group he produced should have won claiming Belle and Sebastian had rigged the online vote to win. The Brits checked the votes and found nothing wrong, but any band that can annoy Pete Waterman is alright with me. It was not long after this that I read that their first album from three years before was going to be re-released. I was also interested in this release because ‘Tigermilk’ which was the name of the first album had only originally been released in a limited edition of 1000. I went down to my local Our Price (remember them?) and ordered it. 

‘Tigermilk’ was a lot more twee than the majority, if not all of the records I owned up to that point but I loved it. It is one of the few albums I can put on and play all the way through without wanting to skip over a single song. From the opening song, ‘The State I Am In’, I was hooked. Considering this album was made as a college project, it is better than a lot of more famous albums that had a lot more money thrown into its production. Just goes to show you that money doesn’t buy you everything. After the first play through, I knew had to find out what other records they had made. 

At that point, it included three albums and four EPs which rather quickly made their way into the Squire Archive. The first two albums were both originally released in 1996 and the second was called ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’. I found this album a bit hard to get into initially but with perseverance, it paid dividends. The band spent 1997 releasing a number of EPs instead of an LP. The first one was ‘Dog On Wheels’, which is essentially the demos that the college heard which lead to the recording of ‘Tigermilk’. Two more EPs followed, each with a number of classy songs but would show the way forward for the group as they contained songs not written by main writer, Stuart Murdoch. This democratic approach would continue into their third record, ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’.  

With all this great music blaring out of my stereo system, I began to look forward to the next album. I did not have to wait long for. “Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant” came out in 2000 and I remember being very disappointed with it but there were still a couple of good tunes on here for me to enjoy. The band ticked over between this and their last album on the Jeepster label by releasing some singles, none of which appeared on any of the LPs. You cannot accuse Belle and Sebastian of not giving their fans value for money. This view all came crashing down with their last album on the Jeepster label which was called ‘Storytelling’. The album was meant to be the soundtrack to a movie of the same name, but only six minutes of music was used. Without looking at it too much, I’m sure I did not use that much more on this compilation either. It was an album of musical cues and most probably a contract filler. The band would sign with the Rough Trade label for their next release.

Even though they could not maintain the quality of the songs (what band can?), there was so much great material during the years they were with the Jeepster label that I could produce a three disc compilation. I love this era of the band and I especially love the music contained on the first two disc. It brings back lots of memories of a time in my life and in their win at the 1999 Brit Awards, showed that manufactured groups did not always get their own way.  All of these songs were available on Spotify so the playlists are available to listen to. 

Disc 1

  1. The State I Am In
  2. Expectations
  3. She’s Losing it
  4. You’re Just A Baby
  5. Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
  6. If You’re Feeling Sinister
  7. I Don’t Love Anyone
  8. Photo Jenny
  9. I Know Where The Summer Goes
  10. Mayfly
  11. I Could Be Dreaming
  12. Lazy Line Painter Jane
  13. My Wandering Days Are Over
  14. Mary Jo
  15. Ease Your Feet In The Sea
  16. Like Dylan In The Movies
  17. Beautiful
  18. The Rollercoaster Ride

Disc 2

  1. It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
  2. Is It Wicked Not To Care?
  3. Seeing Other People
  4. The Loneliness Of The Middle Distance Runner
  5. The Model
  6. Don’t Leave The Light On Baby
  7. The Boy With The Arab Strap
  8. Chickfactor
  9. I Love My Car
  10. Seymour Stein
  11. Women’s Realm
  12. Waiting For The Moon To Rise
  13. A Summer Wasting
  14. Marx & Engels
  15. The Gate
  16. Take Your Carriage Clock & Shove It
  17. We Rule The School
  18. The Chalet Lines
  19. Judy & The Dream Of Horses
  20. Electronic Renaissance
  21. Songs For Children

Disc 3

  1. I Fought In A War
  2. Black & White Lines
  3. Storytelling
  4. Wandering Alone
  5. La Pastie De La Bourgeoise
  6. Me & The Major
  7. Nothing In The Silence
  8. Big John Shaft
  9. The Wrong Girl
  10. There’s Too Much Love
  11. Put The Book Back On The Shelf
  12. Simple Things
  13. Dirty Dream Number 2
  14. Winter Wooksie
  15. A Century Of Fakers
  16. Nice Day For A Sulk
  17. Family Tree
  18. The Boy Done Wrong Again
  19. The Magic Of A Kind Word
  20. The Fox In The Snow
  21. You Made Me Forget My Dreams
  22. This Is Just A Modern Rock Song

The front cover is the same as the cover to the ‘Dog On Wheels’ EP. 

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Led Zeppelin – IV.V

By the time Led Zeppelin’s forth album came out in November of 1971, they were well on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. The band had released four albums in three years since 1969 and during the recording of those albums, some fully formed songs were left in the can. There was talk about putting out their fourth album as a double, or even as a set of four EP’s. This plan was ditched though and fans had to wait until 1973 for their fifth album, ‘Houses of the Holy; to come out. A gap of a year between albums was not unheard of at this point, but was still rare. 

In April of 1972,  the band moved to Mick Jagger’s home, Stargroves, to record their next LP. Hiring the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they set to work. They also had to find the time to rehearse for the live shows that took place in Australasia, North America, Japan and the UK. So as to not to lose momentum, what if the band’s management thought that a stop gap album of outtakes would keep the band in the public consciousness, and also find a home for the material the band had been stockpiling*. With the release of the Led Zeppelin box sets in the 1990s and the deluxe edition in the second decade of this century, this task has been made considerably easier. 

Looking back at the first album, there was ‘Sugar Mama’. Credited, when it was eventually released, to Page and Plant, this was an old blues standard given the Led Zep treatment. ‘Baby Come On Home’ is also pulled from those first album session tapes. Another song credited to Page and Plant, but was based on a song of the same title written by the legendary Bert Burns so he received a co-writing credit as well. There were no unreleased finished songs from the second album and when looking at the deluxe edition of that album which came out in 2014, it is easy to see why. The bonus tracks on that collection are mostly backing tracks and rough mixes for the songs that were released on the parent album. The second album most probably suffered from a dearth material as they did spend a good deal of 1969 touring. It is amazing they produced anything at all that year, let alone an album with some rock classics on it as ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ on it. The rest of the album isn’t too bad either. 

After the hectic touring and recording schedule that was 1969, Page and Plant retreated to Wales to take a break and to write some new material. This lead to a more pastoral sounding album and a number of outtakes, raining from the beautiful ‘Bron-Yr-Sur’ to the reimagined blues medley of ‘Key To The Highway/Trouble in Mind’. The sessions for this album produced the only song to have been released at the time this album could have been compiled, and that is ‘Hey Hey, What Can I Do’. This was the B-Side to the ‘Immigrant Song ‘single, but as this single was not released in the UK, this album (if it had been released) would have been the first time many British fans of the band would have heard it. 

There would have been a case for putting on a couple of studio jams, and two could have been put forward. ‘Jennings Farms Blues’ (which would develop into Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp) as well as ‘St. Tristian’s Sword’. Both of these were recorded during the  Led Zeppelin III sessions. Both being unfinished run throughs meant that they do not warrant too many repeat listens. However, it could have been felt that putting them in the record as a bonus seven inch record would have made the record better value for money for the bands fans. Doing this would have made this record one of the first to put in a bonus single in this way. Led Zeppelin’s fourth album contributed the rest of the album outtakes but this would not have been enough to fill out an entire album. Another look through the archive would have meant using a song that was recorded for the BBC that had not been released before. ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ was chosen and ‘We’re Gonna Groove’, which had been recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, but with some guitar overdubs and the audience noise removed.

One song that was considered for this collection and not used was ‘No Quarter’. An early version of this had been recorded at the fourth album sessions, but had been left unfinished. It would be resurrected for the ‘Houses Of The Holy’ album. 

Considering this is an album of outtakes and live tracks, this is a pretty solid collection. With ‘Houses Of The Holy’ not coming out until March 1973, this would have been a perfect stop gap for the band whilst they continued to tour and work on new material. The late summer of 1972 would have been a perfect time to release this, especially as Led Zeppelin would have just finished their North American tour and before they went to Japan and the UK in the October.

Would this album have ever been considered back in 1972? No chance. Considering it has taken the best part of 50 years for some of this material to come out, there was no way this would have come out in 1972. A shame really as I suspect there would have been a few bands back in the day who would have loved such a high quality record being released under their name. 

Side A

  1. Poor Tom – Third Album Outtake – Original Released on Coda (1982)
  2. Down By The Seaside – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
  3. Night Flight – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
  4. Baby Come on Home – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on Box Set 2 (1993)
  5. Hey Hey What Can I Do – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on the B-Side of Immigrant Song (1970)

Side B

  1. Key To The Highway/Trouble In Mind – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
  2. We’re Gonna Groove – Recorded Live 1970 – Originally Released on Coda (1982)
  3. Sugar Mama – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on CodaDeluxe Edition (2015)
  4. Boogie With Stu – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
  5. Travelling Riverside Blues – BBC Session – Originally released on Box Set 1 (1990)
  6. Bron-Yr-Aur – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975) 

Bonus Single

  1. Jennings Farm Blues – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
  2. St. Tristan’s Sword – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)

Album artwork found on Reddit can created by u/Mellow_404.

*This actual happened when the band completed the sessions for the album Physical Graffiti. They had three sides of music they wished to release and placed some outtakes on there to make up the numbers. 

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Led Zeppelin – The Collection

Looking back, over 50 years since their first album was released, it might be hard for the audience today to get their heads around the amount of albums this band sold. Every single one of their records released in their ten year of recording new material achieved Platinum status in the US and UK markets and their fourth album has sold over 20 millions copies in the America alone.  The band have also tightly controlled their output, famously not releasing an official single in the UK until 1997. The 70s were their decade but they did not last into the next decade having decided not to continue after their drummer, John Bonham, died in 1980. 

I knew very little about Led Zeppelin before 1990, and then I heard Stairway to Heaven on the radio. Asking around, I found a friend at school had a copy of the album that song came from and lent me the record. I was hooked. This just happened to coincide with my first forays into buying my own records instead of just what was in the house. Coincidently, it was around this time that the band announced that they going to release a 4 CD Boxed Set, remixed by Jimmy Page who had not only played on all of the albums but had produced them the first time around. I had to have it and on Christmas Day morning, there it was.

I seem to remember the set was produced because Page was annoyed with the mastering job that had been done on his music when they first released on CD and felt that he could do a better job. He was not wrong in that respect. The sound is in you face from the moment ‘Whole Lotta Love’ comes out of the speakers. The rest of the first CD is uniformly excellent with enough light and dark in the music to show that they are not just a hard rocking outfit. CD 2 is a bit more folkie and mellow and that was all I could take on the first sitting. It took me a while too warm to the music on the latter discs, especially CD 3. Like most bands I like, the longer they go on, the less I seem to like the music. The CD 4 was the same. 

What annoyed me a little bit about this Boxed Set was that at the same time, a two disc highlights set was also released and contained the song ‘Good Times Bad Times’ that was missing from the set I had. With funds limited, there was not way I was going to be able to buy the two disc set just for one song. I was also able to borrow most of the individual albums off of other people to hear the songs that I was missing and I left it at that. However, Led Zeppelin did something that no other band have done to the best of my knowledge. That was, they released another Boxed Set which included all of the songs not on the 1990 set. This meant that I now had every song from their albums including BBC sessions, unique remixes and outtakes. Well done Zeppelin; an excellent example to other bands of not ripping off your fans. 

This compilation is my own best off of Zeppelin songs over three discs as they produced so much good music that it had to be that long. Enjoy!

Disc 1

  1. Good Times Bad Times
  2. Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
  3. Whole Lotta Love
  4. Heartbreaker
  5. Communication Breakdown
  6. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
  7. What Is & What Should Never Be
  8. You Shook Me
  9. Boogie With Stu
  10. Tangerine
  11. Baby Come On Home
  12. Thank You
  13. Gallows Pole
  14. Ten Years Gone
  15. Kashmir
  16. When The Levee Breaks

Disc 2

  1. Black Dog
  2. Over The Hills & Far Away
  3. Immigrant Song
  4. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
  5. Black Country Woman
  6. Rock & Roll
  7. Four Sticks
  8. Misty Mountain Hop
  9. The Battle Of Evermore
  10. Hey Hey What Can I Do
  11. Going To California
  12. Down By The Seaside
  13. That’s The Way
  14. Ramble On
  15. The Rain Song
  16. Stairway To Heaven

Disc 3

  1. Your Time Is Gonna Come
  2. Black Mountain Side
  3. Travelling Riverside Blues
  4. The Girl I Love She Got The Long Black Wavy Hair
  5. The Lemon Song
  6. Since I’ve Been Loving You
  7. How Many More Times
  8. South Bound Suarez
  9. Bring It On Home
  10.  The Rover
  11. Poor Tom
  12. Houses Of The Holy
  13. Custard Pie
  14. I’m Gonna Crawl
  15. All My Love
  16. Bron-Yr-Aur

I used the artwork from that 1990 box set for this collection. To me, it was perfect.

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The Lost Founder Members of the Rugby Football Union – Part 1

On 26th January 1871, twenty one rugby clubs met in London to found the Rugby Football Union. Eight of them still exist, but what happened to the others? Found out their legacy as The Squire looks at the histories of these long lost clubs.

The shirt designs can all be purchased from https://www.blackandblue1871.com

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Rolling Stones – Can You Walk On The Water?

In 2016, The Rolling Stones released ‘Blue & Lonesome’, their first covers LP and it was harking back to their roots as it consisted entirely of blues based music form the likes of Little Walter, Willie Dixon and Magic Sam. The album was a critical and commercial success as it made the top five in the majority of the major record buying markets. With this in mind, I was surprised that The Stones had not done this before. 

Looking back at their earliest albums where they were more covers than originals, The Stones showed their was more to they influences than the blues by covering R&B and Rock n Roll numbers. This would continue until the writing team of Jagger and Richards got into their stride just before the release of the ’Aftermath’ album. However, during those formative years they recorded a good deal of material, especially when they were touring in the USA that has not escape the vault in a legitimate sense. Considering that The Rolling Stones are one of the premier league 60s bands, it is surprising that a reissue campaign of deluxe editions or archival releases has not seen the light of day. This might have something to do with the stand off with ABKCO which is a story for another time. 

As has already been noted, Jagger and Richards were really coming together as a song writing partnership and were so happy with the songs that they had recorded in late 1965 that they wanted to rush release the sessions as an album called ‘Could You Walk On The Water’. A cover was put together using a shot taken a photoshoot at a Californian reservoir. Decca, the bands record label refused to release it but the cover would see the light of day when it was used on the compilation ‘Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)’. Another recording sessions would lead to another batch of original songs being recorded and were used on ‘Aftermath’. 

However, what if Jagger and Richards had still not found their writing chops by late 1965, or if they decided to clear some of the songs that they had recorded so they could come out all guns blazing in 1966 as a band that could produce albums of self written material? If we look at the bands recordings up until the end of 1965, there is enough in the can to produce an album of a similar structure to what had gone before. If we also look at the UK releases up to 1965’s ‘Out Of Our Heads’, each had twelve songs so was there enough to produce a good blues/R&B style record? There was, even though I did start off with ‘I Want To Be Loved’ as the opening track which dates from 1963 as the opening song. It had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, their first single and had not been included on a UK album release at that time. 

The A-Side of this record is very much a blues inspired affair, with a rare instrumental by the band in the form of band composition ‘Stewed & Keefed’. Side B opens with another rarity in form of a song written by Bill Wyman. As far as I can tell, he only received credit for three compositions during his time in the band (even though he would claim that he contributed to a lot more). Like the A-Side, the focus is blues with the Jagger/Richards songs showing their Chuck Berry and Chicago blues influences on their sleeves. 

As albums go, this would have not sounded out of place in the mid 60s, especially when comparing it to other Stones albums of the time. This would also have been quite a nice release for the Christmas market in 1965, especially if you consider that the bands US fans got ‘December’s Children (& Everybody’s)’. With a title that the record company did not like and with bands always moving on and not looking into their archives at this time, an album like this would not have been released in the 60s. However, it would have been a nice 60s equivalent to the ‘Blue & Lonesome’ released 50 years later. 

Side A

  1. I Want To Be Loved* (Dixon) Olympic Studios, London – 10th May 1963
  2. Tell Me Baby, How Many More Times (Broonzy) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
  3. Go Home, Girl (Alexander) Decca Studios, London – 16th July 1963
  4. High Heeled Sneakers (Higginbotham) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
  5. Stewed & Keefed (Phelge) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
  6. Meet Me At The Bottom (Dixon) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964

Side B

  1. Goodbye Girl (Wyman) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964
  2. Don’t Lie To Me (Jagger/Richards) Regent Sound Studios, London – 12th May 1964
  3. Reelin’ & Rockin’ (Berry) Chess Studios, Chicago – 11th June 1964
  4. Key To The Highway (Segar) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964
  5. Looking Tired (Jagger/Richards) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 6th September 1965
  6. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Redding/Butler) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 12th/13th May 1965 

All of these songs were unreleased up until the end of 1965 except for ‘I Want To be Loved’ which had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, the bands first UK single. 

The front cover of the LP is taken from ‘I Design Album Covers’ website (https://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com).

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Various Artists – A Whole Lot Of Rainbows Volume 3

And so we reach August. This is the time of year when the majority of schools in the UK and therefore the general population are on holiday. What better time to share the third and last (so far) of my compilations looking at the wonder of the Sunshine Pop genre. There are the usual suspects in here (The Association, The Millennium and the 5th Dimension) but also some more obscure artists such as Griffin, The Parade and The Arbors with their rather fine cover of ‘Touch Me’ by The Doors. Remember folks, the night are now drawing in and it will soon be Christmas. 

Disc 1

  1. Someday Man – Paul Williams
  2. Rumours – Eternity’s Children
  3. Sweet Pea – Tommy Roe
  4. Hands Off The Man (Film Flam Man) – Peggy Lipton
  5. Sugar Town – Nancy Sinatra
  6. Odds & Ends – Dionne Warwick
  7. Sweet Blindness – The 5th Dimension
  8. Hotel Indiscreet (Mono Single Version) – Sagittarius
  9. I’ll Never Find Another You – The Seekers
  10. It’s Getting Better – Mama Cass Elliot
  11. Frog Prince – The Parade
  12. Don’t You Care – The Buckinghams
  13. Kissin’ My Life Away – The Hondells
  14. Along Comes Mary (Single Version) – The Association
  15. Sunday Will Never Be The Same – Spanky & Our Gang
  16. (They Long Top Be) Close To You – Josie & The Pussycats
  17. Touch Me – The Arbors
  18. So Many People (Mono Single Version) – Paul Williams
  19. Oh What A Lovely Day – Twinn Connexion
  20. Master Jack – Four Jacks & A Jill
  21. Don’t Sleep In The Subway – Petula Clark
  22. I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Dionne Warwick
  23. You’re So Good For Me – Twice As Much
  24. She’s Not Coming Home – Ohio Express
  25. My Sentimental Friend – Herman’s Hermits
  26. Share With Me – The Millennium
  27. Sister Marie – Chad & Jeremy
  28. Always You – The Sundowners

Disc 2

  1. Come To The Sunshine – Van Dyke Parks
  2. Green Tambourine – The Lemon Pipers
  3. Early In The Morning – Vanity Fare
  4. Baby, It’s Real – The Millennium
  5. Luckie (Mono) – Laura Nyro
  6. Cynthia At The Garden – Sidewalk Skipper Band
  7. Yours ‘Till Forever – Griffin
  8. If You Don’t Want My Love – Robert John
  9. From You Unto Us – Eternity’s Children
  10. Sweet Sounds – Tommy Roe
  11. Flying On The Ground – Summer Snow (feat. The Peppermint Trolley Company)
  12. Brandy (Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) – The Eight Day
  13. My World Fell Down (Stereo Single Version) – Sagittarius
  14. There’s Got To Be A Word – The Innocence
  15. Beautiful People – Kenny O’Dell
  16. Riding A Carousel – Petticoat & Vine
  17. Come On In – The Association
  18. She’d Rather Be With Me – The Turtles
  19. Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song) – The Buckinghams
  20. And Suddenly – Cherry People
  21. I Can Make It With You – Pozo-Seco Singers
  22. Neon Rainbow – The Box Tops
  23. Pageant – Blades Of Grass
  24. Mornin’ I’ll Be Movin’ On (Mono Single Version) – Paul Williams
  25. Make You’re Own Kind Of Music – Mama Cass Elliot
  26. Living Together, Growing Together – The 5th Dimension
  27. This Guy’s In Love With You – Herb Alpert
  28. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Nick De Caro
  29. I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love – Petula Clark
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The Kinks – Besides The Kinks

After posting my version of what Dave Davies 60s solo album could have sounded liked, I have been playing a number of my Kinks records once more. I also replayed my version ‘The Great Lost Kinks Album’ from December 2020 (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/the-kinks-the-great-lost-kinks-album-uk-version/) and felt that if this had actually been released what else Pye, the bands record label would do to make the most of The Kinks catalogue. 

In real life, Pye Records was already doing this. In 1973 they released ‘All The Good Times’ which was a four LP set including the complete ‘Lola’ and ‘Arthur’ albums, with two additional discs of deep cuts and singles. Pye didn’t stop here and it seems that they were releasing at least one Kinks compilation LP somewhere in the world throughout the 70s. Looking at the track listing, you can see that they are cash in on the bands name as there seems to be little thought in the way in which the tracks are complied.

The 70s were at least ten years too early too early for the explosion in reissues and reassessments of bands back catalogue that would occur after the advent of the CD. It would take until the turn of the century before the idea of releasing compilations directed at the collector would become a viable money maker so I would be asking a lot of the people at Pye Records in the 70s to do a compilation such as this. Unlike the previous compilation which looked exclusively at material that was rare and unreleased at the time, this LP includes all of the B-Sides that were released on Pye in the UK. 

These are in chronological order which was quite a pleasant surprise as I felt that I would have to move a few about so that the sides of the LPs would match up. Keeping them in order shows the progression the band made from their early R&B roots up until their more English centric music that they were producing by the end of their tenure on Pye. They also show that Dave Davies was beginning to stretch his writing muscle as a number of his songs start to appear.  I am sure that there wouldn’t be many musicians/bands who would have written songs of this quality, let alone put them on the B-Sides of singles. 

All mixes are mono and the A-Side of these singles is also listed. These singles are solely UK releases. The combination of songs on singles from other countries were sometime different. 

Side  1

  1. I Took My Baby Home (Long Tall Sally)
  2. You Do Something To Me (You Still Want Me)
  3. It’s All Right (You Really Got Me)
  4. I Gotta Move (All Day & All Of The Night)
  5. Come On Now (Tired Of Waiting For You)
  6. Who’ll Be The Next In Line (Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy)
  7. I Need You (Set Me Free)
  8. Never Met A Girl Like You Before (See My Friends)

Side 2

  1. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (‘Till The End Off The Day)
  2. Sittin’ On My Sofa (Dedicated Follower Of Fashion)
  3. I’m Not Like Everybody Else (Sunny Afternoon)
  4. Big Black Smoke (Dead End Street)
  5. Act Nice & Gentle (Waterloo Sunset)
  6. Love Me ‘Till The Sun Shines (Death Of A Clown – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but both songs were included on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’)

Side 3

  1. Mr. Pleasant (Autumn Almanac)
  2. Funny Face (Suzannah’s Still Alive – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but the B-Side appears on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’). 
  3. Polly (Wonderboy)
  4. She’s Got Everything (Days)
  5. There’s No Life Without Love (Lincoln County – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 1998 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’).
  6. Creeping Jean (Hold My Hand – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 2011 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire’) 
  7. King Kong (Plastic Man)

Side 4

  1. Mindless Child Of Motherhood (Drivin’)
  2. This Man He Weeps Tonight (Shangri-La)
  3. Mr. Churchill Says (Victoria)
  4. Berkeley Mews (Lola)
  5. Rats (Apeman)
  6. Moments (God’s Children)

The sleeve of this compilation was adapted from the back cover of the Death Do Us Part EP released in 2016

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Various Artists – A Whole Lot Of Rainbows Vol.2

With the UK experiencing some of the hottest weather in its history, it is time to post another section of music that encapsulates the summer. It must be said that there is something joyous about listening to the Sunshine Pop that came out in the late 60s and early 70s. Sunshine Pop was influenced by pop acts such as The Beach Boys as well as groups such as The Mamas & The Papas and The 5th Dimension. It does border on Easy Listening in places but nothing says the summer has arrived than listening to songs like these. 

Disc 1

  1. We Can Fly – The Cowsills
  2. Sunny Day Girl – The Hobbits
  3. Peaceful – Kenny Rankin
  4. The Drifter – Heidi Brühl
  5. I Just Want To Be Your Friend (Single Version) – The Millennium
  6. Creeque Alley – The Mamas & The Papas
  7. Lazy Day – Spanky & Our Gang
  8. Sweet Blindness (Mono) – Laura Nyro
  9. If You Know What I Mean – The Gas Company
  10. I Live For The Sun – Vanity Fare
  11. Wait ‘Till Tomorrow – The Banana Splits
  12. See My Love (Song For Greg) – The Gentle Soul
  13. I’ll Grow Stronger – The Ballroom
  14. Green Tambourine – The Lennon Sisters
  15. Punky’s Dilemma – Don Costa
  16. Different Drum – Stone Poneys
  17. Do You Know The Way To San Jose – Dionne Warwick
  18. Stoney End – Peggy Lipton
  19. Bitter Honey – The Four Fullers Brothers
  20. Say A Little Pray For You – Aretha Franklin
  21. Glory Train – Drake
  22. I Think I’ll Just Go & Find Me A Flower – Moonpark Intersection
  23. King Of A Drag – The Buckinghams
  24. Let’s Ride – Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends
  25. Only One Woman – Marbles
  26. Rosecrans Blvd. – Gordon Waller
  27. Pretty Ballerina – The Left Banke
  28. How Can I Be Sure – The Young Rascals

Disc 2

  1. Bowling Green – The Everly Brothers
  2. Mr. Dieingly Dad – The Critters
  3. I Can’t Go Wrong – Keith
  4. Are You Lonesome Like Me? – The Feminine Complex
  5. Kits Are Fun – The Free Design
  6. 5 A.M. (Single Version) – The Millennium
  7. Once Upon An Everyday (Mono) – Peter Sarstedt
  8. Carrie Ann – The Hollies
  9. Lu (Mono) – Laura Nyro
  10. Leaving On A Jet Plane – Peter, Paul & Mary
  11. Moody Manitoba Morning – The Bells
  12. Let Me Pass By – Peggy Lipton
  13. Time For Livin’ – The Association
  14. Darlin’ (Mono) – The Beach Boys
  15. Hung Up On Love – Other Voices
  16. Morning Girl – The Neon Philharmonic
  17. Dancing Dandelion (Demo) – Eternity’s Children
  18. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & The Papas
  19. The Year Of The Sun – The Gordian Knot
  20. Time To Love – The Address Brothers
  21. Trains & Boats & Planes – Anita Harris
  22. Six O’Clock In The Morning – The Feminine Complex
  23. Snow (Mono Version) – Harpers Bizarre
  24. The Warmth Of The Sun – The Beach Boys
  25. Crimson & Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells 
  26. Another Time – Sagittarius
  27. She Lets Her Hair Down – The Tokens
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Various Artists – British Gold

This is the first (and only time) I am posting a compilation that I have not compiled myself. For me, this was a shop bought tape released on the legendary K-Tel Record label and I was given before I made it to school age. I played this tape so much, it wore out. It was also chewed up by numerous tape players but on each occasion I managed to salvage it and play it again. By the end, it sounded as though the tape had been recorded through mud but I still loved it. At this point, I had acquired my first proper stereo system and looking through the Squire Archive revealed that I already had a number of the songs on this compilation. I thought it was time I acquired the rest so I could reproduce the tape for myself.

It would take a few years to buy everything as this was as time before the internet and Spotify. Eventually I was be able to recreate this compilation for myself and when I look at it, my musical preferences are here for all to see. Great songs, written by great songwriters and sounding as fresh as they did when they were first released. I first reproduced it on a tape, but found that the songs did not fit onto the tape I had bought that was the same length as the original. It was then that I released that some of the songs had been edited down. It just meant I needed to buy a longer tape. I have recreated on CD and mp3 and no doubt this compilation will follow me to the grave. 

I am sure that if this was released today, someone would say that the title was not an accurate reflection of the artists contained within as not all of them were British. Manfred Mann and Jimi Hendrix spring to mind, but all of the bands themselves were formed in the UK. It’s still a great compilation and I still give it a spin every so often. Enjoy. 

Side 1

  1. Gimmie Some Lovin – The Spencer Davis Group
  2. My Brother Jake – Free
  3. Get It On – T. Rex
  4. With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
  5. Down The Dustpipe – Status Quo
  6. 54321 – Manfred Mann
  7. Stay With Me – The Faces
  8. Here I Go Again – The Hollies
  9. All Day & All Of The Night – The Kinks
  10. Hush – Deep Purple

Side 2

  1. Substitute – The Who
  2. Fire – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
  3. A White Shade Of Pale – Procol Harum
  4. Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream
  5. Hey Joe – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  6. Crocodile Rock – Elton John
  7. Resurrection Shuffle – Ashton, Gardner & Dyke
  8. Blackberry Way – The Move
  9. Layla (Single Edit) – Derek & The Dominos
  10. Something In The Air – Thunderclap Newman

The cover is based on the one that came with the tape. A K-Tel classic from a by gone age.