Sun Dial – The Early Years

As this has been a year celebrating psychedelic music (and with a new album due this month), I thought it was time to turn my attention to Sun Dial. They are a a truly underground band and have spent the last 30 years steadily releasing new records as well as a significant amount of archival releases. They even had their own imprint on Cherry Red Records for a short period of time. Not bad for a band that have never really hit the mainstream but have maintained a dedicated fan base since their first release in 1990. That first release was ‘Other Way Out’, one of the few truly awesome psychedelic albums not produced in the 1960s. The band itself has had a revolving line up since it was first formed in the late 1980s out of the ashes of another band, The Modern Art. Modern Art released numerous records but never played live. This lead guitar player/singer, Gary Ramon decided to disband the Modern Art and form Sun Dial for the purpose of going out on the road. He has been the only ever present in the band, even though he has been joined by members of The Modern Art in the various incarnations of the later band.

Other Way Out (Alternative)

‘Other Way Out’ was their first release and came out in 1990 on their own Tangerine label. Some came with a lyric sheet including some that were signed by Ramon. I had never heard of the band because I was a little young in 1990 to be reading the independent music press, and would not have had a chance to see them play live in 1991. I only came cross them by accident having found their first album in The Record Shop in Kingston Upon Thames, an oasis for vinyl hunters in the early to mid 90s when most other record shops had stopped selling that format. One of the staff had written a note which was attached to the record saying that it was a cross between Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd and the Jefferson Airplane. I did not know much about Jefferson Airplane at the time, but Sad Barrett was a different matter. I bought the album and was not disappointed. I was blown away by how authentic it sounded and it was heavy rotation for a number of months, much to the annoyance of everyone else around me. This being 1994, listening to Psych music was not exactly the hip thing to do. 

The album has seen a number of reissues down the years including a 25th Anniversary Edition in 2015 on Record Store Day. What has also trickled out down the years on very limited edition releases are outtakes form the sessions that produced this record. What I have done it is to take different versions of these songs to compile an alternative version of the record. It is not as good as the official release, but it is always nice to have an idea of what it could have sounded like. 

Side A

  1. Plains Of Nazca (First Take)  
  2. Exploding In Your mind (Anthology Edition)
  3. Magic Flight (Early Mix)

Side B

  1. World Without Time (Early Mix)
  2. She’s Looking All Around (Take 2)
  3. Lorne Blues (Take 1)

The cover is the same as the original, but the image had been turned into a negative. 

Sun Dial – Other Way In (Alternative)

As was noted in my previous post, Sun Dial have been rather good at their archive releases, especially from their early period. Their first album, ’Other Way Out’ has had numerous reissues but there have also been a number of records release that contain outtakes from those sessions. One of the first was a vinyl release called ‘Other Way In’ from 2005. There was also a deluxe edition of the album from 2010 as well as a mind bending 13 disc box set from the same year featuring a bewildering amount of outtakes, alternative versions, rehearsals and live songs. 

What was surprising to me was the amount of material that was recorded during the first two years of their existence that never saw the light of day on any future album. Granted, some of these songs never progressed passed the demo stage but that did not mean they could not have been dusted down and rerecorded. What I present here is at least one version of the songs recorded for ‘Other Way Out’ that stayed in the vault at the time. I have also tried not to use material that would have been used for ‘Return Journey’, their abandoned second album. 

Side A

  1. Astral Vision (Third Eye Studios Take 3)
  2. Carousel (CR Studios Demo 1)
  3. I Can See What You Are
  4. Samantha’s Scene (CR Studios Demo)

Side B

  1. You’re So Real (Take 3)
  2. Poster Painted Skies (Original Version)
  3. Atom Heart Lover
  4. Silver Dust

Side C

  1. Other Side
  2. Fountain
  3. Through You
  4. Phaser Song
  5. Dark Into Light (Demo Version)

Side D

  1. Cathedral (CR Studios Demo)
  2. Visitation (Long Version)

Single Sided 7”

  1. Visitation (Single Edit)

The cover is the same as the one used for the release of ‘Other Way In’ used back in 2005, but recoloured purple.

Sun Dial – Live At The Playground 1991

All of these songs appeared on the 2010 box set ‘Exploding In Your Mind’. Weirdly, the band released another 13 disc box set that year which contained nothing but live concerts in full. Why they felt they needed to release these separately is a bit bizarre but it did mean I could make a combined double LP version which could have been released in 1991, even though it does sound a bit ropey in places. An archival release for sure. 

Side A

  1. Mind Train*
  2. Magic Potion (Live Version 2)**

Side B

  1. Exploding In Your Mind**
  2. It’s All Too Much*
  3. Oh Yeah/Jean Genie Jam**

Side C

  1. Plains of Nazca**
  2. Other Side**
  3. Never Fade (Take 2)*
  4. Jam/Cold Turkey*

Side D

  1. Fireball**
  2. Slow Motion*
  3. Only A Northern Song**

*April performance

**May performance  

The cover is adapted from one used for a reissue of ‘Other Way Out’ with the band name and title changed so that the fonts match. 

I have no idea where The Playground venue is or was. Any ideas internet? 1.

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.8

With Volume 8 in this series, there are, as always, a number of well known artists (The Who, Spencer Davis Group, The Rolling Stones), people who went onto be more famous in other groups (The Remo Four included two members who would go on to be in Ashton, Gardner & Dyke) and those who only found belated fame on psych compilations released many years after the event. I used a few more Mono mixes in here including ‘King Midas In Reverse’ which for my money sounds so much better with that mix than in stereo. All that phrasing spoils the song for me. 

Disc 1

  1. Atmospheres – Wimple Witch
  2. I’ll Be Late For Tea – Blossom Toes
  3. All So Long Ago – The Sweet Feeling
  4. Second Production – Mike Stuart Span
  5. Never Care – Eyes Of Blue
  6. Tread Softly For The Sleeper – The Hi-Fis
  7. In The Deep End – The Artwoods
  8. Sycamore Sid – Focal Point
  9. Am I Glad To See You – The In Crowd
  10. Something To Write About – Circus
  11. I Can See For Miles (Mono) – The Who
  12. Day & Night – The Drag Set
  13. ‘Cos It’s Over – The Summer Set
  14. We Love You (Single Version) – The Rolling Stones
  15. In the First Place (Original Abbey Road Mix) – The Remo Four
  16. Nobody Know Where You’ve Been – The State Of Mickey & Tommy
  17. Nightmare – The Gass Company
  18. She – Tuesday’s Children
  19. She Was Perfection – Murray Head
  20. Sanity Inspector (Single Mix) – The Spencer Davis Group
  21. Time & Motion Man – Episode Six 
  22. Cheadle Health Delusions – Felius Andromeda
  23. Lullaby – Grapefruit
  24. Busker Bull – The Truth
  25. Magician – The Amazing Friendly Apple

Disc 2

  1. Loneliest Person – The Pretty Things
  2. Armenia City In The Sky (Mono) – The Who
  3. In Another Land (Single Version) – The Rolling Stones
  4. Through My Eyes – The Creation
  5. Again – the Symbols
  6. Girl I’m Wondering – The Blackbirds
  7. For Your Information – The Cedars
  8. King Midas In Reverse (Mono) – The Hollies
  9. It – The Excelsior Spring
  10. My Kingdom Cannot Lose – Still Life
  11. Lovely People – The Fairytale
  12. Red Sky At Night – The Accent
  13. Mr. Partridge Passed Away Today – Fortes Mentum
  14. Do You Dream? – Circus
  15. Neville Thumbcatch – The Attack
  16. Trot – Turnstyle
  17. So Many Times – Ice
  18. Running In The Water – The Kytes
  19. Is It Love? – Jon
  20. Amanda Jane – West Coast Consortium
  21. Winter Afternoon – The Flies
  22. Ebaneezer Beaver – The Mirage
  23. Reflections Of Charles Brown – Rupert’s People
  24. 10,000 Years Behind My Mind – Focus Three
  25. Teargarden Lane – Jason Crest
  26. Genuine Imitation Of Life – Jackie Lomax
  27. Goodbye – Rainbow Folly

Various Artists – Songs From A Distant Earth

Something a little bit different here and a compilation I put together that is named after a book by Arthur C Clark (with an extra ‘A’ added, because it sounded better to me that way). The book actually has nothing to do with music, but I always liked the title and fancied making a chill out playlist that would share the title. This was inspired by a CD an old flat of mine had. The Ministry of Sound and their ‘The Chill Out Sessions 2” which came out in 2001. I have not been one for these mix CDs as normally I like to hear the songs start and finish without another song coming in over the top. Well, this changed with this compilation. 

I have taken some of the mixes that were made for the ‘Chill Out Session’ CD and made my own by adding songs of a similar nature to the playlist. Not only did I take some songs from there, but from a few other Chill Out CDs I had in the collection. These included number of tunes from the ‘Late Night Session’ series. Anyway, it is time to sit back, relax and float downstream. That could make a good lyric for someone. 

Disc 1

  1. Music For The Funeral Of Queen Mary – Wendy Carlos
  2. Here With Me – Dido
  3. Since I Left You – The Avalanches
  4. Daydream In Blue – I Monster
  5. Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out – Bentley Rhythm Ace
  6. Giving Up – Hairy Diamond
  7. Worth It – Skinny
  8. So Easy – Röyksopp
  9. Drifting Away – Faithless
  10. Erase/Rewind – The Cardigans
  11. Kelly Watch The Stars – Air
  12. My Friend – Groove Armada
  13. Sweet Harmony – The Beloved
  14. American Dream – Jakarta
  15. Slip Into Something More Comfortable – Kninobe
  16. Give It Away – Zero 7
  17. Because (Vocal Only Mix) – The Beatles
  18. Utopia (Genetically Enriched) – Goldfrapp
  19. Fear & Love – Morcheeba
  20. Les Fleur – 4Hero

Disc 2

  1. Another Green World – Eno
  2. Connjur – School In Seven Bells
  3. Woman – Karen O
  4. I Won’t Hurt You – Anja Garbarek
  5. La Fille De La Ligne 15 – The Limiñanas
  6. Eple – Röyksopp
  7. Keep Asking – Vangelia
  8. Love Song – Olivia Newton-John
  9. Orleans – David Crosby
  10. Everloving – Moby
  11. Breathe – Open Door
  12. At The River (Q Magazine Edit) – Groove Armada
  13. Game Love – Gulp
  14. Some Men – Darkel
  15. 4:33 – Nils Frahm
  16. Missing Photos – Last Days
  17. Pyramid Song – Radiohead
  18. In The Waiting Line – Zero 7
  19. Should I Stay – Gabrielle
  20. Passing Through – Rare Bird
  21. Invisible – Grouper
  22. Shine – Slowdrive
  23. Wind Drive (Alternate Tag Section) – The Beach Boys

The cover is taken from the Twitter account, Images That Could Be Album Covers (@ImagesAlbum).

Crowded House – The Collection

I had heard of Crowded House when their song and debut UK hit, ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ came out in 1986. This was in a period when I didn’t buy much music and so I must have heard it on the radio or one of the few TV Chart Shows we had in the UK at the time. I liked the song but not enough to buy it. Roll on five years to 1991 when I heard the song ‘Fall At Your Feet’. At the time, this sort of well crafted melodic pop song was not the sort of thing I was listening to. Guitar gods such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Peter Green were pretty much all that was being played around this period. I took a punt and popped along to Music Inn in Ashford (Middx), another of the great lost record shops of my youth and duly picked up a copy of the parent LP. 

Putting the vinyl on the deck, I was almost put off playing anymore by the albums opening song, Chocolate Cake. I really didn’t understand what this song was going on about, and how was Tammy Bakker they kept going on about? Turns out she was married to disgraced TV evangelist Jim Bakker but as this was before the days of widespread internet, I only found this out later. It was also the albums lead single which ended up pretty much losing the band its American fan base. Crowded House had been a lot more successful Stateside than the UK with their first two albums but ‘Woodface’ would change all of this. The rest of the alum was stunning, with a set of beautiful songs that lasted stayed in the memory. This album was also quite long for an LP clocking in at over 47 minutes. Not a minute wasted either (apart from Chocolate Cake, and in time Weather With You, a song I grew tired of quite quickly). 

What I didn’t realise at the time is that this album should not have sounded like this. Neil Finn, the band’s main songwriting had delivered an album that the record company had refused to release. Neil had been working on material with his brother Tim for an album that they would release under the moniker of the Finn Brothers. Neil asked Tim if he could use some of this material for the next  Crowded House album, with Tim saying yes as long as he could become a member of the band. The Finn brothers had already been in the band Split Enz. Tim later said he was joking, but Neil took him at his word and Tim became a member, if only for a short time. I actually had a go at recreating this lost LPs back in January of 2022 (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/crowded-house-tim-finn-1989-1991/).

In time, I would buy the two proceedings album, ‘Crowded House’ and ‘Temple of Low Men’. Neither of these would have the impact on me that ‘Woodface’ did and they did not get a lot of airtime. I missed out on the release of their forth album, ‘Together Alone’ as I feel it just passed me by. 1993 was the beginnings of the Britpop era and that was taking all of my attention. What swung me around to possibly my favourite album by them was the fact that during my University days, I ended up working in an Off License that had a CD player in it. One day a copy of ‘Together Alone’ appeared and from then on I was hooked. A bit different from the albums that preceded it but still full of beautiful songs with well crafted melodies and neat hooks. The band unfortunately split up in 1996 and even though they have reformed and released a number of albums since, none of these have graced my record collection. I’m not sure why. It must just be down to the fact that I am not a great fan of bands that reform and release new music. The Small Faces and Smashing Pumpkins being other examples. The spark they once had is no longer there.

My one regret is that I did not get to see the band live during their first incarnation, especially when Tim Finn was in the line up. Live music also passed me by at that point. I either spend the money on records or going to the gig. I pretty much exclusively spent my money on the records. 

Disc 1

  1. World Where You Live
  2. Love You ‘Till The Day I Die
  3. Something So Strong
  4. Hole In The River
  5. Now We’re Getting Somewhere
  6. Don’t Dream It’s Over
  7. Tombstone
  8. Can’t Carry On
  9. Sister Madly
  10. When You Come
  11. Fame Is
  12. There Goes God
  13. Four Seasons In One Day
  14. Tall Trees
  15. Its Only Natural
  16. Fall Out Your Feet
  17. Whispers & Moans
  18. As Sure As I Am
  19. She Goes On
  20. Into Temptation
  21. All I Ask
  22. How Will You Go
  23. Better Be Home Soon

On my mix of ‘How Will You Go’, the hidden song of ‘I’m Still Here’ was edited out. Unfortunately, Spotify does not give me the option to do this. It does make the end of this playlist a little disjointed.  

Disc 2

  1. Kare Kare
  2. In My Command
  3. Nails in My Feet
  4. Black & White Boy
  5. Scared Cow
  6. Instinct
  7. I Love You Dawn
  8. Fingers Of Love
  9. Pineapple Head
  10. Skin Feeling
  11. Locked Out
  12. Catherine Wheels
  13. Walking On The Spot
  14. Time Immortal
  15. Distant Sun
  16. Help Is Coming
  17. Not the Girl You Think You Are
  18. Private Universe
  19. Together Alone

As far as I can tell, nearly all of the bands LP artwork was produced by the bands bass player, Nick Seymour. Art, like music is subjective and I am not great fan of what he has produced down the years. So I took a shot of the band when Tim Finn was a member and tried to emulate the minimalist approach record companies took in the mid 90s when it came to sleeves as the artwork needed to fit into a CD and/pr cassette box and this is what I came up with.

Elton John – Regimental Sgt. Zippo (Deluxe Edition)

It was thought that the early years of Elton John’s career were well know. Born Reginald Dwight in 1947, he showed aptitude for the piano by being able to play back classical pieces after only hearing them once. He gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music but quit before taking his final exams. By 1962, he had formed the Bluesology and backed musicians such as The Isley Brothers and Long John Baldry. The band released three singles before disbanding. Dwight, taking the John from Long John Baldry and Elton from bandmate Elton Dean, created the stage name he would be known as from now on. 

Now know as Elton John, he answered an advert in the New Musical Express placed by Ray Williams,  the A&R man at Liberty Records, looking for talent in the shape of artists, composers, singers and musicians. John was happy in his ability to write melodies and tunes, but was not happy with his lyric writing. Explaining this to Williams, John was handed a bunch of lyrics that had been sent to Liberty by someone else who had seen the advert, a chap called Bernie Taupin. They started off collaborating by post before meeting in late 1967 when Taupin moved to London. 

Through Williams, John was put back in touch with his old Bluesology band mate, Caleb Quayle who was the studio manager of Dick James Music on New Oxford Street. Quayle snuck John into the studio after hours to record demos until they were rumbled. Quayle was able to pursued his boss, Dick James (who had set up Northern Songs to administer the publishing of The Beatles music) that John was a talent that would be of benefit to the company. James listened to the songs and agreed, signing John and Taupin to a publishing and management contract. The first fruits of this contract was the single, ‘I’ve Been Loving You’ which came out in March of 1968 and is listed as being written by John and Bernie Taupin, but was a actually written by John alone. John had given Taupin the co-credit so that his collaborator might have a bit of bit of extra income from the royalties.. The single was not a chart smash, but undaunted, John continued to record and write. They placed songs with Roger Cook and a Eurovision entry for Lulu, which came last out of the 1969 UK entries. John released two more singles in 1969 as well as his debut album, ‘Empty Sky’. It was with his 1970 single, ‘Your Song’ that John scored his first major hit and the rest the say is history. 

However, this turns out not to be the complete story. In 2020, John released a rather fine box set called ‘Jewel Box’. Containing deep cuts and B-sides, it also contained a number of demo recordings from 1965 -1975. This was a treasure trove of songs showing how the songwriting team of John and Taupin developed. The sleeve notes also mentioned an unreleased album called ‘Regimental Sgt. Zippo’. A track listing was included and even though some of the ones had been released before on bootlegs, no one realised that they were meant for an otherwise unreleased LP. One song had been given a legitimate release on a very rare Portuguese EP version of the ‘Thank You For All Your Loving’ single called‘Angle Tree’. 

‘Jewel Box’ contained demos for most of the songs but what was a bigger surprise was that the album existed in a fully realised form. A mono edition was given a limited release as part of Record Store Day in 2021, and then a stereo version came out the following year. Why this album didn’t come out is anyone’s guess. No one really seems to know but it could’t have been that the title track was just a little too similar in name to the behemoth that was ‘Sgt Pepper’ that had come out the year before. It could have been that those involved just felt it wasn’t commercial enough with the record company were struggling to find a single out of the songs that had been recorded. What is nice is that it came out at all, if belatedly. 

But what if the record had come out in 1968? Well, it could have ended up like his true debut, ‘Empty Sky’ as a forgotten part of his career, only really known to his most committed of fans. If it had been released, what would a deluxe edition of this record would have looked like? To answer this, I have taken more traditional route for deluxe edition of records by making this CD based. All songs were originally recorded between 1967 and 1968. Any song recorded later has not been included as these should go in an ‘Empty Sky’ set. A demo of ‘Skyline Pigeon’ was recorded in 1968 but i have not included this also due to a full band recordings appearance on the aforementioned ‘Empty Sky’ LP. 

Disc 1

This would include the stereo mix of the album. It also includes his first single release (which came out in 1968). 

  1. When I Saw Teaby Abbey
  2. And The Clock Goes Round
  3. Sitting Doing Nothing
  4. Turn To Me
  5. Angel Tree
  6. A Dandelion Dies In The Wind
  7. Reginmental Sgt. Zippo
  8. You’ll Be Sorry To See Me Go
  9. Nina
  10. Tartan Coloured Lady
  11. Hourglass
  12. Watching The Planes Go By
  13. I’ve Been Loving You (Single A-Side)
  14. Here’s To The Next Time (Single B-Side)

Disc 2

This includes the mono mix of the album, along with any demos of these songs. ‘Nina’ sounds like the album version but is 10 seconds shorter than both the mono and stereo mix so has been included for completeness. This disc also includes John’s first demos recorded after he had been introduced to the lyrics of Bernie Taupin, some of which were recorded before the two men had even met. 

  1. When I Saw Teaby Abbey
  2. And The Clock Goes Round
  3. Sitting Doing Nothing
  4. Turn To Me
  5. Angel Tree
  6. A Dandelion Dies In The Wind
  7. Reginmental Sgt. Zippo
  8. You’ll Be Sorry To See Me Go
  9. Nina
  10. Tartan Coloured Lady
  11. Hourglass
  12. Watching The Planes Go By
  13. When I Saw Tealby Abbey (Piano Demo)
  14. And The Clock Goes Round (Piano Demo)
  15. Angel Tree (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
  16. A Dandelion Dies In The Wind (Piano Demo)
  17. Nina (Band Version)
  18. Scarecrow (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
  19. Velvet Fountain (Piano Demo)
  20. A Little Love Goes A Long Way (Piano Demo)
  21. If You Could See Me Now (Piano Demo)
  22. Mr. Lightning Strikerman (Piano Demo)

Disc 3

A collection of period demos, including ‘Here’s To The Next Time’ which was the B-Side of his debut solo single.

  1. Countryside Love Affair (Piano Demo)
  2. I Could Never Fall In Love With Anybody Else (Piano Demo)
  3. I Get A Little Bit Lonely (Piano Demo)
  4. The Witch’s House (Piano Demo)
  5. Year Of The Teddy Bear (Piano Demo)
  6. Where It’s At (Piano/Percussion Demo)
  7. Who’s Gonna Love You (Piano/Percussion Demo)
  8. Get Out Of This Town (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
  9. Here’s To The Next Time (Piano/Tambourine Demo)
  10. Thank You For Your Loving (Band Demo)
  11. Where The First Tear Shows (Band Demo)
  12. 71-75 New Oxford Street (Band Demo)
  13. Reminds Me Of You (Piano Demo)
  14. I Can’t Go On Living Without You (BAnd Demo)
  15. I’ll Stop Living When You Stop Loving Me (Piano Demo)
  16. Trying To Hold On To A Love That’s Dying (Piano Demo)
  17. Cry Willow Cry (Band Demo)
  18. There Is Still A Little Love (Band Demo)
  19. If I Asked You (Band Demo)
  20. Two Of A Kind (Band Demo)
  21. The Girl On Angle Pavement (Band Demo)
  22. Smokestack Children (Band Demo)
  23. Baby I Miss You (Band Demo)
  24. Bonnie’s Gone Away (Piano/Guitar Demo)
  25. Just An Ordinary Man (Piano Demo)
  26. There’s Still Time For Me (Piano/Guitar/Tambourine Demo)
  27. The Tide Will Turn For Rebecca (Piano Demo)

The sleeve is the same as the one used for the 2021 release but with the deluxe edition banner added. 

Disc 2 could not be reproduced on Spotify

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.7

To round out the month, here is Volume 7 of my Psych Years playlists. Unlike previous efforts, this one did not use any of the compilations I have purchased down the years as a base but it does focus on the latter years of the scene. The Rolling Stones, Arthur Brown, Family, Eric Burdon, Al Stewart and early Fairport Convention (where they were a Jefferson Airplane type band instead of the folk behemoth they became) could well be the most famous names here but there are a number of acts where members went on to be more famous elsewhere. These include The Idle Race (Jeff Lynne of ELO), Simon Dupree & The Big Sound (Gentle Giant), The Gods (Greg Lake of ELP & King Crimson) and One In A Million (Jimmy McCulloch (Wings and The Small Faces).  

Disc 1

  1. The River – Octopus
  2. Too Much On My Mind – The Gates Of Eden
  3. A Strange Light From the East – Tuesday’s Children
  4. Shades Of Orange – The End
  5. Double Sight – One In A Million
  6. Riding A Wave – Turnstyle
  7. Evil Woman – Guy Darrell
  8. I Can See The Sky – Fire
  9. Everyday Is Just The Same – The Moan
  10. I Read You Like An Open Book – The Tages
  11. Good Job With Prospects – Actress
  12. Follow Me – The Fruit Machine
  13. Daydream Girl (Album Version) – Billy Nicholls
  14. Two Little Ladies – The Crocheted Doughnut Ring
  15. Sage Of Wrinkled Man – Fortes Mentum
  16. Never Had Girl Like You Before – The Misunderstood
  17. In The Valley of The Shadow Of Lone – Tuesday’s Children
  18. Love – Virgin Sleep
  19. Dear Delilah – Grapefruit
  20. All The Love In The World – Consortium
  21. Where Dragons Guard The Doors – Mortimer
  22. Turn Into Earth – Al Stewart
  23. I Am Nearly There – Denis Couldry & The Next Collection
  24. The First Step On The Moon – The Cape Kennedy Construction Company
  25. Felix – Andwella’s Dream
  26. Daytime Girl (Coda) – Billy Nicholls

Disc 2

  1. Haunted – Peter Thorogood
  2. (Who Planted Thorns In) Miss Alice’s Garden – The Explosive
  3. Gratefully Dead – Eric Burdon & The Animals
  4. Hot Smoke & Sassafras – The Mooche
  5. On Love – Skip Bifferty
  6. Knocking Nails In My House – The Idle Race
  7. Crazy Dreams – The Searchers
  8. Ballad Of Harvey Kaye – East Of Eden
  9. The Way (Single Version) – July
  10. Mellowing Grey – Family
  11. Peter’s Birthday (Black & White Rainbows) – World Of Oz
  12. Devil’s Grip – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
  13. Sun Shade – Fairport Convention
  14. Linda Love Linda – The Floribunda
  15. Me – Aquarian Age
  16. Theodore – The Silver Eagle
  17. Life Is Just Beginning – The Creation
  18. A Fairy Tale (Alt. Mix) – Second Hand
  19. Too Much In Love – Churchills
  20. I Lied To Auntie May – The Neat Change
  21. Rainchild – Octopus
  22. 14 Hour Technicolour Dream – The Syn
  23. Castle In The Sky – Simon Dupree & The Big Sound
  24. Orignal Sin – Blinker
  25. Plastic Horizon – The Gods
  26. On With The Show – The Rolling Stones

Bob Dylan – The Alternative New Portrait

To complement the post from earlier this month, I though that I would take a look at the follow up to ‘Self Portrait’, 1970s ‘New Morning’. ‘New Morning’ was released four months after ‘Self Portrait’ and the rumour at the time was that Dylan had rushed back into the studio after the negative reaction to his previous effort. The truth was that the sessions for ‘Self Portrait’ lay around for a year before coming out and therefore, ‘New Morning’ was already in the can. 

After listening through ‘Another Self Portrait’ and ‘1970 with Special Guest George Harrison’, I was wondering if it would be possible to produce an alternative version of ‘New Morning’ using alternative takes. Dylan is a musician who records many versions of the same song (listen to the Collectors edition of ‘The Bootleg Series Vol.12’ which includes every note recorded during the 1965-1966 sessions to see what I mean. You will have to make your way through over 19 hours of music).  

One song is missing from this collection, ‘The Man in Me’. That is because there was not an alternative version of this released on either ‘Another Self Portrait’ or the Archive release, 1970. I substituted it with an outtake from the a session with George Harrison, ‘Working on a Guru’. 

Side A

  1. If Not For You*
  2. Day Of The Locusts (Take 2)**
  3. Time Passes Slowly #2*
  4. Went To See The Gypsy*
  5. Winterlude**
  6. If Dogs Run Free*

Side B

  1. New Morning (With Horn Section Overdubs)*
  2. Sign On The Window**
  3. One More Weekend**
  4. Working On A Guru*
  5. Three Angels**
  6. Father Of Night (Rehearsal)**
  • The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)

** 1970 With Special Guest George Harrison

The front cover is the same as the one on the original version of ‘New Morning’, but in negative.

One or more of these songs was not available on Spotify.

Bob Dylan – The Alternative Self Portrait

Is ‘Self Portrait’ Dylan’s worst album release? Probably not, with 1973’s ‘Dylan’ album most probably taking that title (see footnote). What cannot be argued is that is it bizarre, being made up of folk songs, covers of popular tunes, some originals, live tracks and instrumentals. For a man known as the ‘Voice of a Generation’, putting instrumentals on a Dylan record may well have been the first FU of the project. Dylan himself has been a bit dismissive of this album, saying that he treated as an official bootleg as it full of songs that he and his band would record whilst warming up for a session. At other times, he was looking to get people off of his back as this so called ‘Voice of a Generation’. Whatever the reasons behind it, the album was received with almost universal poor reviews. Is the album really that bad or without merit. Music is subjective so I leave it up to you to make you own mind up. What is without question is that there were good recordings from the sessions. It just took until 2013 for most people to find that out. 

That was because in 2013, Volume 10 of the legendary Bootleg Series was released, titled ‘Another Self Portrait’. This included songs that would be released on the original ‘Self Portrait’ and its follow up, ‘New Morning’, but in alternative or demo form. There is a smattering of Dylan originals, songs by his contemporaries and traditional numbers. This was followed in 2020 by ‘1970 with Special Guest George Harrison’ which contained even more outtakes from the same sessions.  Having played through these compilations, I wondered if there was enough material to make an albums of traditional songs. Dylan had come from a folk background (just listen to his first album and the ‘Basement Tapes’) and would return to these songs when in need of inspiration. Dylan himself would release  two album of traditional songs with 1992’s ‘Good As I Been To You’ and 1993’s ‘World Gone Wrong’. What if he had decided to do this earlier? To complete this record, I would not use any of the recordings used on the ‘Self Portrait’ album. 

With the striped backed production, Dylan follows his muse and even though none of these were meant to see the light of day, they stand up quite well. A couple needed to be faded out as the original recordings come to a sudden stop but other than that, the recordings are as they were recorded. With these versions, gone are some of the over top production that plagued ‘Self Portrait’ and the female backing vocalists are now complimenting the recording instead of over powering them. Overall, I believe this to be a more satisfying listening experience. 

Side A

  1. Little Sadie (Without Overdubs)*
  2. Come All You Fair & Tender Ladies (Take 1)**
  3. Things About Comin’ My Way**
  4. Days Of ’49 (Without Overdubs)*
  5. Lily Of The West (Take 2)**
  6. Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie (Take 1)**

Side B

  1. Belle Isle (Without Overdubs)*
  2. Alberta #3*
  3. This Evening So Soon*
  4. Pretty Saro*
  5. Tattle O’Day*
  6. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue*
  7. Railroad Bill*
  • The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)

** 1970 With Special Guest George Harrison

Even though it is a dreadful cover, I decided to use the original artwork used in 1970 for the ‘Self Portrait’ album, but in a negative form. Dylan did produce it himself.  

The ‘Dylan’ album from 1973 is a curious beast, being made of outtakes from ‘Self Portrait’ and ‘New Morning’ albums. None of the songs on this release were sanctioned for release by Dylan himself and it could be argued that he album only came out due to spite from Columbia, Dylan’s label since the start of his recording career. Dylan had temporarily left the label for Asylum Records. He would only stay at Asylum for two records (‘Planet Waves’ and ‘Before The Flood’) before returning to Columbia for ‘Blood On The Tracks’. 

This ‘lost album’ could not be recreated on Spotify.

Bob Dylan – A Tree With Roots

The 1960s were a time where music trends came and went relatively quickly. The music that came out in 1969 was very different from what came out in 1960. There weren’t many artists who went through through the decade without having to follow the trends, because there were artists like Dylan, who were setting them. His first album was a folk record, where he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. By 1966’s ‘Blonde On Blonde’, he had turned on the electricity and bucked the trend by releasing one of the first rock double albums. The music from the debut, that was only four years old at this point, was lightyears away from what Dylan was producing in 1966. Everyone waited to see what he would do next but then there was nothing for eighteen months. This was the 60s were albums would come out every six months (give or take a month or two). When The Beatles took a few months out in late 1966, there was a rumour that they had split up. That is nothing though compared to Dylan’s break, but what had caused him to take so long between records?

Dylan says that he was involved in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York but there are no records of an ambulance being called or show that Dylan was hospitalised. Whatever the truth, Dylan did write in his autobiography that he needed a break and would not return to touring for another eight years. He retreated to his house, but did not sit around doing nothing. Calling on The Band, who had toured with him the year before, the musicians set about recording numerous covers and new Dylan songs. Dylan would say that the recordings were not for him but for act as guides for other artists to cover, and cover them they did. ‘Quinn The Eskimo/The Mighty Quinn’ and ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ were both top five hits for Manfred Mann and Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity respectively. The Byrds recorded two of the songs for their ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ LP and Fairport Convention included ‘Million Dollar Bash’ on their ‘Unhalfbricking’ album. 

The sessions that became known as the Basement Tapes would appear on rocks first bootleg record, the infamous ‘Great White Wonder’. This intern would lead to a whole industry to spring up around unauthorised releases and Dylan is believed to be the most bootlegged artist in history. He even acknowledged this when his archival releases are called ‘The Bootleg Series’.  There was an attempt to beat the bootleggers, six years too late with the release of ‘The Basement Tapes’ album in 1975. However, this was not the complete story as there were multiple songs that were not included on this release and it would take until 2014 when the entire still listenable performances were given the deluxe box set selection. 

Hearing these performances, it is easy to see that these were guide performances as there are some out of tune vocals and some loose playing. It only adds to the charm. There were also a lot of performances, especially early on in the recording process where there were a number of cover versions and traditional songs being played as the musicians got used to playing with one another. 138 of these performances would see the light of day on ‘The Bootleg Series Vol.11: The Basement Tapes Complete’. What is quite incredible is the amount of songs that Dylan wrote for these sessions, with not one of them being used on his next album, ‘John Wesley Harding’. The rootsy nature of that album and The Band’s ‘Music From Big Pink’ would usher in a more basic style of recording that would influence artists such as Eric Clapton to leave Cream and The Beatles to pull back on the excesses of their self titled album to go back to simpler style for the ‘Let It Be’ sessions. 

What this compilation, we look at what-if Dylan had decided to be even more rootsy and release a selection of the self written material as an album in 1967 and pushed back ‘John Wesley Harding’ until mid 1968. Even though this album would not have seen the light of day in 1967, it would have been interesting how this would have received. A record with mostly short songs with only five on this release clocking in at over four minutes. The loose playing would have also stood out against the majority of music that was being produced in 1967. If you look at the amount of time that The Beatles and Brian Wilson spent recording ‘Sgt Pepper’ and ‘Smile’ to see that these live takes were harking back to a simpler time for reading music. 

When compiling this, I thought that it would there would only enough material for a single disc, which is what the record label would no doubt have instead on after the release of ‘Blonde on Blonde’,  However, there was so much good material that I felt it would be a waste not to use them. I also had three songs left over and used them as a single (with two B-Sides). How Dylan was able to write this much material without re-recording it shows what a purple patch he was going through from 1963 to 1969. This would all come to a grinding halt with the release of the ‘Self Portrait’ album in 1970, but there would be stacks of great material still to come in the years that followed. 

Side A

  1. Odds & Ends (Take 2)
  2. Please Mrs. Henry
  3. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)
  4.  You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 2)
  5. Crash On The Levee (Take 2)
  6. Yea! Heavy & A Bottle Of Bread (Take 2)
  7. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)
  8. I Shall Be Released (Take 2)

Side B

  1. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
  2. Tiny Montgomery
  3. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
  4. Santa-Fe
  5. Mary Lou, I Love You Too
  6. Open The Door Homer (Take 1)
  7. Quinn The Eskimo (Take 2)
  8. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue

Side 3

  1. Silent Weekend
  2. Clothes Line Saga
  3. Dress It Up, Better Have It All
  4. Too Much Of Nothing (Take 2)
  5. Lo & Behold! (Take 2)
  6. Sign Of The Cross

Side D

  1. 900 Miles From Home
  2. Goin’ To Acapulco
  3. I’m Not There
  4. Tears Of Rage (Take 2)
  5. One For The Road

Bonus Single

  1. This Wheel’s On Fire (Single A-Side)
  2. I’m Alright (Single B-Side)
  3. Cool Water (Single B-Side)

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

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Years Vol.6

One interesting factor regarding archive releases has been the amount of demos and acetate recordings that have surface. For those who have not heard of an acetate, they are discs that look like vinyl records but they are not and they are not accurately named because an acetate disc does not contain any acetate. They are an aluminium disc covered in a nitrocellulose lacquer. An engraving machine is used to transfer the recording on to the disc. This process was more common before the widespread use of magnetic tape but it was also used by musicians to take a copy of what they had produced in the studio home with them, either to hear what the song sounded like on their turntables or as a way of shopping that song around to labels and/or music publishers.

The most famous acetate recording is arguably ‘It Might As Well Rain Until September’ by Carol King. King had written the song with her then husband, Gerry Goffin for Bobby Vee. However, Vee’s management did not want to release the song as a single but Don Kirshner, music publisher and the man behind The Monkeys heard Kings’ version and released it on his Dimension record label. The record was a reasonable hit in the USA and quite a big one in the UK, but the song was not recorded to tape. It was a demo recorded to acetate which is why it does not sound as good compared to other recordings of the era, especially in the digital age. 

For some artists, the only evidence that they recorded anything could well be an acetate because even though they have made the original recording to tape, that might have been wiped or lost in the years since. Even for well known artists, acetates can be the source of an interesting recording, be it and alternative mix or otherwise lost recording. However, acetates are not designed for heavy use and the lacquer starts to wear out after about ten plays. Modern technology can only do so much to improve the sound but it has been great to at least have the opportunity to hear recordings that would otherwise have been lost. 

This, Volume 6 in my look at the Psychedelic Years, includes many recordings that were taken from demos and acetates. One of the rare exceptions that isn’t is ‘Love Make Sweet Music’ by Soft Machine. The reason for that is down to the sound of the recording fitting better here than my usual compilations. Many of these tracks come from the ‘Psychedelic Schlemiels’ series which sought out recordings from bands who were all but unknown to anyone who did not have extensive knowledge of obscure names on gig posters for venue listings from the music papers from the era. Another source for tracks was the compilations released by RPM that looked at artists signed to Apple Music. The rest are made up of bonus tracks from band specific archive releases and the awesome Jesse Harper album (real name Doug Jerebine) ‘Guitar Absolution In The Shade Of A Midnight Sun’, arguably one of the great lost albums of any era. 

Out of the all of the bands represented on this compilation, most disappeared in obscurity but not all. Soft Machine, one of the pioneers of prog rock as well as jazz fusion and The Iveys, who changed their name to Badfinger had some success during their lifetimes. There are some rough diamonds to be found in these recordings but it is important to remember that the source of the majority of these recordings come from sources with plenty of surface noise. 

Side A

  1. Jug-A Jug Song – Jesse Harper
  2. Come On Up – Carley Hill Blues Band
  3. Broken Man – Peanut Rubble
  4. Helen Doesn’t Care – Penny Peeps
  5. Do What You Must – Tintern Abbey
  6. Great Shadowy Orange – Jade Hexagram
  7. Try Me On For Size – Those Fadin’ Colours
  8. Love Makes Sweet Music – Soft Machine
  9. Mirror – Coconut Mushroom
  10. Second Generation Woman – The Factory
  11. Brace New Lights – Phoenix
  12. You Can Run – The Majority
  13. Great Ideas – Jigsaw
  14. Our Love Will Be Strong – The Majority
  15. Magic Time – The Flies
  16. Will I Find Love – Fire
  17. Sunshine Help Me – Carley Hill Blues Band
  18. Sad Sad Sad – Sheridan’s Bitter Sweet
  19. I Think I’ll Say – Airbus
  20. Thinking Pictures – Rawlings & Huckstep
  21. In The Sunset – Barnaby Rudge
  22. Dark Star – Pussyfoot
  23. Maybe Tomorrow – The Iveys
  24. As He Sees Them – The Intruders
  25. Sitting In The Sun – Cellophane Cloud

Side B

  1. An Apple A Day – The U (Don’t) No Who
  2. Blow Up – Those Fadin’ Colours
  3. Just A Dream – Peanut Rubble
  4. Blues News – Jesse Harper
  5. Sailing – Joker
  6. Wax Candle – Haverson Apricot
  7. Uncle Henry’s Magic Garden – David Matthews
  8. How It Is – John Pantry
  9. How Does It Feel – The Perishers
  10. You & Me Baby – The Obscured Rays
  11. Sunshine Train – The Mirror
  12. Something New Everyday – Timon
  13. Sister Saxophone – Turquoise
  14. In The Park – The Cortina’s
  15. Live For The Sun – Phoenix
  16. I’ve Been There Once Before – The Iveys
  17. Childplay – Sweet Marriage
  18. Somebody Save Me – Paradox
  19. Ginny Stop – West Coast Consortium
  20. This Little Man – Grapefruit
  21. Crushed Purple – Jade Hexagram
  22. I (Who Had Nothing) – Herbal Remedy
  23. Together – The Montanas
  24. Shadow Man – Schadel
  25. Who Is The Man (Death) – Cellophane Cloud