This is a peer-reviewed, final published version of the following document:

Deakin, Rich (2011) The Edgar Broughton Band - The Harvest Years 1969-1973, EMI 4-CD review. Shindig! Quarterly (1). p. 108.

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108

THE DOORSThe Doors: Mono EditionRhino LPwww.rhino.com

This takes me back tothat triumphant dayin the late ’60s whenI cycled to the localrecord shop andsnarfed up the record

that had been staring at me from the binssince its release in early 1967. It was inmono then so this is the version I know likethe back of my hand: thick with atmosphereand resonance as those classics work theirmagic.

The remastering for 180-gram vinyl hasbeen overseen by original engineer BruceBotnick, adding new depth and clarity(and it’s great having it at this sizeagain!). Obviously, much of The Doors’current audience came to know the albumthrough later CDs and box sets and isalready bound to possess the lysergiclandmarks contained herein. Ultimatelythis will be a prized acquisition for Doorssuper fans and completists, plus patheticsods like me trying to relive theinestimable impact this record made whenit first appeared.Kris Needs

JOAO GILBERTOO Amor, O Sorriso E A Florél CDwww.elrecords.co.uk

If one track sums upthe understated classof this, Joao Gilberto’ssecond album andthe follow up to his1958 debut Chega De

Saudade, look no further than theuncluttered elegance of ‘Samba De UmaNota So’ (AKA ‘One Note Samba’).

Produced by Antonio Carlos Jobim, OAmor, O Sorriso E A Flor (The Love, The

Smile And The Flower) is nothing less than asprinkling of gold dust from the wellspring ofbossa nova. Just listen to Gilberto’s sublimereadings of Jobim’s ‘Meditacao’ and‘Corcovado’ for further proof.

In addition to the original 12-trackalbum, this deluxe reissue comes with noless than 22 bonus tracks in the form ofassorted late ’50s/early ’60s covers oforiginals by Joao Gilberto, Antonio CarlosJobim & Vinicius De Moraes, Carlos Lyraand others from an impressive range ofartists including Sergio Mendes, SylviaTelles, Walter Wanderley, Agostinho DosSantos and Orquestra Pan American with OsCariocas.Grahame Bent

THE GOODEESCondition Red! The Complete GoodeesAce CDwww.acerecords.com

The Goodees are mostwell known for theShangri-Las lite‘Condition Red’, oneof the very last hits tofit in squarely with the

classic “girl group sound”. Released in 1968on Stax’s rock-oriented Hip subsidiary, it wasa melodramatic ode to a hedonisticmotorbike driver and earned the girls localsuccess in Memphis and wider nationalexposure. On the back of it, The Goodeesrecorded a patchy album the following year,Candy Coated Goodees, bringing in somenow-ancient girl group covers like ‘He’s ARebel’ alongside more interesting work, likethe heavy stomp of ‘Double Shot’ and thesensitive Jimmy Webb song, ‘Worst ThatCould Happen’.

This compilation reproduces the album infull, along with other sides the groupreleased for Hip, including the sweet soul of‘For A Little While’. There are also sevenunreleased (and largely undistinguished)tracks rounding out the package. TheGoodees were good. Not great, though.Jeanette Leech

EARTHA KITT & SHORTYROGERSSt Louis BluesANN-MARGARET & AL HIRTPersonalitiesVARIOUS ARTISTSOdd Couples: What Were TheyThinking?All Bear Family CDswww.bear-family.de

Bear Family’s newseries The Velvet

Lounge gets off to agood start with thesethree titles.

Eartha Kitt andShorty Rogers’ St Louis Blues (1958), Ann-Margaret and Al Hirt’s Personalities (whichcombines tracks from Beauty And The Beard

(’63) and Bear Family’s 5-CD Ann-Margaretbox set) and the anthology Odd Couples:

What Were They Thinking?, which showcasesthe history of unlikely cross generic pairingsof artistes throughout the lounge/easylistening/ exotica heyday of the ’50s and thefirst half of the ’60s. Unlikely double actscelebrated here include Eddy Arnold &Esquivel, Perry Como & The Sons Of ThePioneers, Tennessee Ernie Ford & Kay Starr,Don Gibson & Los Indios Tabajaras andSister Rosetta Tharpe & Red Foley.Grahame Bent

THE EDGAR BROUGHTONBANDThe Harvest Years 1969-1973EMI 4-CD

All of the Broughtons’ digitally remasteredHarvest catalogue on four CDs – includingfive studio albums, singles A and B-sidesand a previously unreleased live recording.It’s a pity the liner notes are so skimpy.

The EBB were always more overtlypolitical than their early ’70s “people’sband” counterparts. If Hawkwind broughtthe freeform freakiness and The PinkFairies rock ’n’ rolled the joint with goodtime cosmic boogie, then the Broughtonsprovided the rabble-rousing revolutionaryrhetoric and foot-stomping tribalism.Nowhere is this more evident than on theirfirst album, Wasa Wasa, an intoxicatingconcoction of heavy electric blues, brain-melting heavy metal and satire. Theysubsequently released singles thatcombined Beefheart’s ‘Drop Out Boogie’with The Shadows’ ‘Apache’ andappropriated The Fugs’ infamous Pentagonexorcism and turned it into the tribalisticblues chant ‘Out Demons Out’.

Next album, Sing Brother Sing, displays

an element of conceptual theatricality –especially on ‘The Moth’ and ‘Psychopath’ –on which Edgar is suitably creepy as thetitular child molester. The hurtlingjuggernaut that is ‘Momma’s Reward (KeepThem Freaks-A-Rollin’)’ and the funky‘There’s No Vibrations But Wait’ being otherstandout tracks.

Having utilised orchestral stringarrangements on their eponymous thirdalbum – most notably on the sublime‘Evening Over Rooftops’ and ‘For Dr Spock’– subsequent releases continued a gradualmellowing in musical direction. Thehauntingly beautiful single ‘Hotel Room’bridged this and fourth album In Side Out.‘Sister Angela’ and the rocking ‘I Got Mad(Soledad)’ are paeans to black poweractivists Angela Davis and George Jackson,whilst ‘Homes Fit For Heroes’ is done inthe best protest folk tradition.

Musically, the last Harvest album, Oora,

is a consistently solid piece of work, andcertainly has its moments – there’s still theodd concession to right-on issues too –see ‘Eviction’. But in reality, by the time itwas released in 1973 the undergroundscene was in disarray and glam-rock hadstolen the thunder of many bands like theBroughtons, and with it their momentum.

But lest we forget why they deserve thatproto-punk tag they are now so oftenlabelled with, the bonus live recordingfrom Hyde Park in ’70 bears testimony tojust how incendiary they were in theirunderground heyday. Rich Deakin

1960s

The Broughtons: “Let’s levitate The Roundhouse!”

SQ1-1 06/02/2011 10:07 Page 108

108

THE DOORSThe Doors: Mono EditionRhino LPwww.rhino.com

This takes me back tothat triumphant dayin the late ’60s whenI cycled to the localrecord shop andsnarfed up the record

that had been staring at me from the binssince its release in early 1967. It was inmono then so this is the version I know likethe back of my hand: thick with atmosphereand resonance as those classics work theirmagic.

The remastering for 180-gram vinyl hasbeen overseen by original engineer BruceBotnick, adding new depth and clarity(and it’s great having it at this sizeagain!). Obviously, much of The Doors’current audience came to know the albumthrough later CDs and box sets and isalready bound to possess the lysergiclandmarks contained herein. Ultimatelythis will be a prized acquisition for Doorssuper fans and completists, plus patheticsods like me trying to relive theinestimable impact this record made whenit first appeared.Kris Needs

JOAO GILBERTOO Amor, O Sorriso E A Florél CDwww.elrecords.co.uk

If one track sums upthe understated classof this, Joao Gilberto’ssecond album andthe follow up to his1958 debut Chega De

Saudade, look no further than theuncluttered elegance of ‘Samba De UmaNota So’ (AKA ‘One Note Samba’).

Produced by Antonio Carlos Jobim, OAmor, O Sorriso E A Flor (The Love, TheSmile And The Flower) is nothing less than asprinkling of gold dust from the wellspring ofbossa nova. Just listen to Gilberto’s sublimereadings of Jobim’s ‘Meditacao’ and‘Corcovado’ for further proof.

In addition to the original 12-trackalbum, this deluxe reissue comes with noless than 22 bonus tracks in the form ofassorted late ’50s/early ’60s covers oforiginals by Joao Gilberto, Antonio CarlosJobim & Vinicius De Moraes, Carlos Lyraand others from an impressive range ofartists including Sergio Mendes, SylviaTelles, Walter Wanderley, Agostinho DosSantos and Orquestra Pan American with OsCariocas.Grahame Bent

THE GOODEESCondition Red! The Complete GoodeesAce CDwww.acerecords.com

The Goodees are mostwell known for theShangri-Las lite‘Condition Red’, oneof the very last hits tofit in squarely with the

classic “girl group sound”. Released in 1968on Stax’s rock-oriented Hip subsidiary, it wasa melodramatic ode to a hedonisticmotorbike driver and earned the girls localsuccess in Memphis and wider nationalexposure. On the back of it, The Goodeesrecorded a patchy album the following year,Candy Coated Goodees, bringing in somenow-ancient girl group covers like ‘He’s ARebel’ alongside more interesting work, likethe heavy stomp of ‘Double Shot’ and thesensitive Jimmy Webb song, ‘Worst ThatCould Happen’.

This compilation reproduces the album infull, along with other sides the groupreleased for Hip, including the sweet soul of‘For A Little While’. There are also sevenunreleased (and largely undistinguished)tracks rounding out the package. TheGoodees were good. Not great, though.Jeanette Leech

EARTHA KITT & SHORTYROGERSSt Louis BluesANN-MARGARET & AL HIRTPersonalitiesVARIOUS ARTISTSOdd Couples: What Were TheyThinking?All Bear Family CDswww.bear-family.de

Bear Family’s newseries The VelvetLounge gets off to agood start with thesethree titles.

Eartha Kitt andShorty Rogers’ St Louis Blues (1958), Ann-Margaret and Al Hirt’s Personalities (whichcombines tracks from Beauty And The Beard(’63) and Bear Family’s 5-CD Ann-Margaretbox set) and the anthology Odd Couples:What Were They Thinking?, which showcasesthe history of unlikely cross generic pairingsof artistes throughout the lounge/easylistening/ exotica heyday of the ’50s and thefirst half of the ’60s. Unlikely double actscelebrated here include Eddy Arnold &Esquivel, Perry Como & The Sons Of ThePioneers, Tennessee Ernie Ford & Kay Starr,Don Gibson & Los Indios Tabajaras andSister Rosetta Tharpe & Red Foley.Grahame Bent

THE EDGAR BROUGHTONBANDThe Harvest Years 1969-1973EMI 4-CD

All of the Broughtons’ digitally remasteredHarvest catalogue on four CDs – includingfive studio albums, singles A and B-sidesand a previously unreleased live recording.It’s a pity the liner notes are so skimpy.

The EBB were always more overtlypolitical than their early ’70s “people’sband” counterparts. If Hawkwind broughtthe freeform freakiness and The PinkFairies rock ’n’ rolled the joint with goodtime cosmic boogie, then the Broughtonsprovided the rabble-rousing revolutionaryrhetoric and foot-stomping tribalism.Nowhere is this more evident than on theirfirst album, Wasa Wasa, an intoxicatingconcoction of heavy electric blues, brain-melting heavy metal and satire. Theysubsequently released singles thatcombined Beefheart’s ‘Drop Out Boogie’with The Shadows’ ‘Apache’ andappropriated The Fugs’ infamous Pentagonexorcism and turned it into the tribalisticblues chant ‘Out Demons Out’.

Next album, Sing Brother Sing, displays

an element of conceptual theatricality –especially on ‘The Moth’ and ‘Psychopath’ –on which Edgar is suitably creepy as thetitular child molester. The hurtlingjuggernaut that is ‘Momma’s Reward (KeepThem Freaks-A-Rollin’)’ and the funky‘There’s No Vibrations But Wait’ being otherstandout tracks.

Having utilised orchestral stringarrangements on their eponymous thirdalbum – most notably on the sublime‘Evening Over Rooftops’ and ‘For Dr Spock’– subsequent releases continued a gradualmellowing in musical direction. Thehauntingly beautiful single ‘Hotel Room’bridged this and fourth album In Side Out.‘Sister Angela’ and the rocking ‘I Got Mad(Soledad)’ are paeans to black poweractivists Angela Davis and George Jackson,whilst ‘Homes Fit For Heroes’ is done inthe best protest folk tradition.

Musically, the last Harvest album, Oora,is a consistently solid piece of work, andcertainly has its moments – there’s still theodd concession to right-on issues too –see ‘Eviction’. But in reality, by the time itwas released in 1973 the undergroundscene was in disarray and glam-rock hadstolen the thunder of many bands like theBroughtons, and with it their momentum.

But lest we forget why they deserve thatproto-punk tag they are now so oftenlabelled with, the bonus live recordingfrom Hyde Park in ’70 bears testimony tojust how incendiary they were in theirunderground heyday. Rich Deakin

1960s

The Broughtons: “Let’s levitate The Roundhouse!”

SQ1-1 06/02/2011 10:07 Page 108