Shapes of Things - Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds

Shapes of Things

Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds

Springboard  SBD-4039

1972

I was very sad to learn of Jeff Beck's passing.  After Hendrix he was my favorite rock guitarist and I worshipped him like a god when I was a teenager and I still consider his music to be an important part of my life.  This is hardly the record to honor him by, I think "Yardbirds" or any Yardbirds comp would be more appropriate not to mention "Truth" by the Jeff Beck Group or "Blow by Blow."  However this is the album I've chosen and it was also the album I reached for when I heard he died even though it is a skimpy and shoddy record by a low budget record label that was slightly above bootleg level.  Cratediggers of my generation may recall seeing bargain priced albums by Springboard in the bins.  They put out records with obscure music by famous artists of the time generally from early in their careers and of dubious legality.  I think it highly unlikely they were paying royalties on this stuff.  To some degree you were getting what you paid for, as I recall the albums didn't even have inner sleeves to protect the vinyl.  They were rip-offs, but if you were a fan of the artist, the music was often quite interesting and hard to find.  I bought a bunch of them.  "Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds" was the first Yardbirds album I ever bought since all the Epic albums were out of print when I became interested in the band.  It is an abridged version of the show released as "Five Live Yardbirds" but it actually sounded better than that album (at least until it got remastered) and featured stage patter not on that album.  This was the second Yardbirds album I bought.  I picked it up in the mid-1970s shortly before Epic restored the band to its catalog with "The Yardbirds Great Hits" which is a better introduction to the group.  Nonetheless hearing this record for the first time blew my teenage mind.  Beck's guitar solos took my breath away.  Not having many records yet, I was accustomed to listening to mid-1970s AOR or top 40 on the radio which I largely regarded as bland, so Beck's explosive and frenetic guitar work combined with the Yardbirds' pop smarts was a revelation to me.  Only the Beatles with their superior songwriting excited me more.  There are a mere 9 tracks on the album and Beck only appears on 8 of them since "I Ain't Got You" was recorded when Clapton was the lead guitarist in the group although I love it and consider it one of his best Yardbirds tracks so I'm not complaining.  The record begins with the band's soaring 1966 single "Shapes of Things" written by band members Keith Relf, Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith.  It widely considered to be one of the first psychedelic songs although its swelling riff, driven by feedback and power chords, could also be seen as a heavy-metal prototype.  Beck's fiery solo embraces raga and jazz while fully rocking out and ends way too soon.  It is followed by an unreleased track that is a lively instrumental version of "What Do You Want?" which appeared in a vocal version on "Yardbirds."  McCarty's crisp drumming powers the song while Beck delivers a noisy smoking hot riff that culminates in a shrieking solo.  The song is far more exciting than the release track.  Relf's humorous "New York City Blues" was the b-side of "Shapes of Things."  It is a rare foray into straight blues for Beck but he delivers the goods big time.  His solo section is very compelling and majestic.  "Someone to Love" is an unreleased track that is essentially a punchier version of "Lost Woman" from "Yardbirds" with different lyrics.  Beck's solo is curiously subdued in comparison to the release version.  "For R.S.G." is actually Bo Diddley's "Here 'Tis" which the band had previously recorded live with Clapton on "Five Live Yardbirds."  This is a studio version that the band apparently recorded for the British tv show "Ready Steady Go" hence the odd title.  Both the studio and live versions are very exciting, but I give this version the edge for Beck's dazzling guitarwork.  He works all over the fret board and the call and response solo section is longer and more elaborate than the Clapton version.  This is one of the songs that impressed me the most when I was a kid and even now it still gets my heart racing.  Mike Hugg's "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" had appeared on the American LP "Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds" where it was one of my favorite tracks.  It is driven by a hypnotic riff and Beck's fuzz-toned solo is among his best with the Yardbirds and I would argue that it was the best rock guitar solo that had ever been recorded at that time.  It is followed by an unreleased instrumental version of "Someone to Love."  This elongated performance gives Beck plenty of room to operate and he responds with one of the most amazing guitar solos of that era or any era for that matter.  Beck begins riffing over a thunderous rhythm track driven by Samwell-Smith's throbbing bass line and McCarty's explosive drumming.  His riffing grows in strength and then erupts into orgasmic blasts of feedback and raw guitar noise.  I would say this is the greatest moment in the illustrious history of the Yardbirds.  I remember blasting this song wearing headphones as a teen and literally trembling afterwards.  This song alone justifies this record's existence.  The aforementioned "I Ain't Got You" appeared originally as a b-side and was on the U.S. album "For Your Love."  The album ends with "I Ain't Done Wrong" which also was on "For Your Love."  This is another one of Beck's best moments with the Yardbirds.  He handles the blues section and the rave-up with equal aplomb.  His soloing is so inspiring I can't resist breaking out my air guitar to play along.  So with this album you get five legitimately released songs presumably stolen without credit from Epic/EMI four of which are essential (and easily available on legitimate releases.)  You also get four unreleased songs which are extremely interesting and I would argue that "For R.S.G" and the second version of "Someone To Love" are also essential.  They have appeared on a modern CD, Sony's comp "Blues, Backtracks and Shapes of Things" and there are a bunch of foreign versions of this LP so you don't have to buy this stupid record necessarily to get this music.  However it is pretty easy to find and I love the cover picture and had it on display in my room when I was a teen.  If you are a fan of Jeff Beck or the Yardbirds this is a must-have in some form.  Maybe because I bought it so early it has an outsized importance in my mind, but it was the album that made me a fan of Beck and the Yardbirds and listening to it now about 48 years after I bought it it still sounds fresh and vital to me.  Rest in peace Jeff Beck and thank you for being such a big part of my musical life.  Recommended to people who prefer "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" over "For Your Love."  

Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds - The Yardbirds

Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds 
Epic BN 26177
1965

This was the Yardbirds' second American album and has no British equivalent being cobbled together from singles, unreleased tracks as well as four cuts from their British debut album "Five Live Yardbirds."  It was probably puzzling to the original buyers.  There are two versions of "I'm a Man" and side one sounds very different from side two, almost as if they were recorded by different bands, and in a sense they were since side two features an uncredited Eric Clapton on lead guitar and side one features Jeff Beck instead.  The liner notes don't even mention that side two is a live recording from the previous year.  Despite this shoddy packaging the record is fantastic, full of essential music.  It opens with "You're a Better Man Than I" written by Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann.  It has long been one of my favorite Yardbirds songs.  It is a social protest song with a folk rock sound driven by a propulsive bass riff and jangly guitar lines until Jeff Beck's explosive fuzzed out guitar solo that goes from raga to psychedelic in a thrilling manner.  His solo is a hard rock landmark and shows that Beck was the most creative rock guitarist of his era prior to the rise of Jimi Hendrix.  "Evil Hearted You" was written by Graham Gouldman and displays his typical gift for a well-crafted catchy pop song.  It was deservedly a hit single in England.  The song is punctuated by loud slashing guitar chords that emphasize its gloomy nature until the surprisingly upbeat bridge section.  Beck delivers a subdued but powerful solo.  Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" was essentially the Yardbirds' unofficial theme song.  The song stayed in their repertoire for the entire history of the band and was released in versions by all three lead guitarists for the band.  Beck delivers the studio version here, Clapton was on the live version from "Five Live Yardbirds" on side two of this album and Jimmy Page performed on the expanded version the band developed late in their career as heard on "Live Yardbirds."  The Beck version is easily my favorite.  The song is driven by the familiar Bo Diddley shuffling beat that gradually builds in force to the most amazing rave up the band ever did.  Beck and Keith Relf on harmonica trade licks until Beck goes berserk.  He races down his guitar neck and until he runs out of room and starts striking his strings percussively.  It is tremendously exciting.  I've listened to it hundreds of times and it still floors me.  "Still I'm Sad" was written by the group's bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty.  It was the flip side of the "Evil Hearted You" single in Britain and was a hit in its own right there.  It is a complete change of direction from the rest of the album.  It is slow and despondent with Relf's vocal supported by a quasi-Gregorian chant background vocal.  I like it but I'm glad the rest of the album is different.  "Heart Full of Soul" is another terrific Gouldman contribution and the band's second most successful American single after "For Your Love."  It is a compelling song bolstered by raga-style fuzz guitar runs from Beck.  Side one concludes with the band's searing workout on Tiny Bradshaw's "The Train Kept A-Rollin'.'"  I mentioned in an earlier post on the "Blow-Up" soundtrack that I thought the version of this song the band performed in that film (under the title "Stroll On") was the greatest hard rock song the band ever did, but this version is equally impressive.  It opens with Beck imitating a train whistle on his guitar and then explodes.  The guitar riff that drives this song is relentless and overwhelming.  Just when it seems like the song can't get any hotter Beck unleashes his second solo which is completely incendiary.  This remains the most irresistible hard rock I've ever heard, an absolute masterpiece.  Side one of this album is an incredible side of vinyl, the pinnacle of mid-1960s hard rock.  There was nothing like this before in rock history and it established the foundation for decades of hard rock to come.  Side two is old-fashioned in comparison.  It was recorded only a year earlier but it feels more like a decade.  I'm fond of "Five Live Yardbirds" but the band's approach to rhythm and blues, while exciting, was not all that far removed from the original songs.  The style is similar, they just played faster.  I think Epic largely made the right choices in the four songs they selected for this album although I would have substituted "Too Much Monkey Business" for "I'm a Man" since it already appeared on side one in a superior performance.  Vocalist Keith Relf was not up to the challenge poised by Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning" but the band makes up for it with the energy of their performance.  Relf's harmonica blowing is engaging and the song features two dynamic rave ups.  This was my favorite track on "Five Live Yardbirds."  Relf and the group can't match the vocal firepower of the Isley Brothers on "Respectable" but instrumentally it is ferocious with the band noisily attacking the song at a breathless tempo concluding with a manic rave up performed at phenomenal speed.  The Clapton version of "I'm a Man" has a similar arrangement to Beck's studio version but is less highly charged.  Relf's fine harmonica work dominates the first portion of the song as well as the first rave up.  Clapton takes charge in the second rave up but does not have much of a solo and the call and response with Relf that helps drive the Beck version is largely lacking in this version.  Side two finishes with another Bo Diddley song "Here 'Tis."  This is another fast tempo song which features some of Clapton's finest guitar work with the Yardbirds as he lays down some blistering licks.  There is an excellent studio version of this song with Jeff Beck that the band cut for the TV show "Ready Steady Go!" which I slightly prefer although it is not as energetic as this one.  I'm generally hostile to American record companies monkeying around with a band's catalog and crafting phony albums out of it, but in this case I can't deny that I really love this album.  I think it is easily the best of the four Epic albums (excluding comps and live records) and although you can get the best songs here on just about any Yardbirds comp, I think fans might still want to seek out this record which is not hard to find and generally less expensive than the other Epic albums.  I feel it has historical significance and even has a bit of an aura to it.  Recommended to Jeff Beck fans.

Help! In Concert - The Beatles

Help! In Concert
The Beatles
Coda Publishing CPLVNY193
2016

My 400th post is naturally a Beatles post.  This is a Czech bootleg of some classic Beatles concerts that were filmed for television broadcast.  There are two concerts from Blackpool, one from July 19th, 1964 and the other from August 1, 1965.  There is also a show from Palais des Sports, Paris from June 20, 1965.  The title is rather misleading, of the 20 tracks only four of them come from the album "Help!" (all from the second Blackpool show.)  Most of the tracks are drawn from "Beatles For Sale" and "A Hard Day's Night."  It is nicely packaged for a bootleg with a sturdy sleeve illustrated with images of the 1965 Blackpool show.  The record is pressed on light blue marbled vinyl that looks lovely and sounds mediocre.  The Blackpool recordings are excellent with only minimal screaming to distract from the performance.  The 1964 show begins with one of the best live performances of "A Hard Day's Night" I've ever heard.  "Things We Said Today" also sounds really good, especially the quality of Paul McCartney's robust vocal.  John Lennon matches McCartney with a rocking performance of "You Can't Do That."  Despite the listing on the cover, the next track is "I Feel Fine" which is taken from the 1965 show.  It usually sounds crappy live, but the boys nail it this time around.  The record jumps back to 1964 for a scorching performance of "Long Tall Sally" that I think is just as good as the studio version and George Harrison's guitar work is first rate throughout.  "If I Fell" is also from the 1964 concert.  The vocal work from John and Paul is extremely good.  The record returns to the 1965 Blackpool show for the remainder of side one.  "I'm Down" sounds a little murky, but the performance is very dynamic with more fine guitar work from Harrison and Lennon going nuts on the organ.  "Ticket to Ride" sounds cleaner and it features another outstanding performance from the band.  Harrison introduces McCartney's solo performance of "Yesterday" which was the first time the song had been performed live.  McCartney accompanies himself on acoustic guitar supported by the strings in the theater orchestra.  It sounds great, I think I prefer it to the studio version.  The Beatles return and John facetiously calls McCartney "Ringo" as he thanks him for his performance.  This is followed by the first live performance of "Help!" which they knock out of the park even though Lennon flubs the vocal at one point.  It sounds fantastic, when it is over I want to join the girls in screaming.  Side two begins with one final song from the 1965 Blackpool show, "Act Naturally" which is out of order having originally been performed after "I'm Down."  Ringo gives himself a humorous introduction before launching into his vocal.  Again the recording lacks sharpness.  Four of the 1965 Blackpool tracks were on the "Anthology 2" album where they sound great.  The two that were omitted were "I'm Down" and "Act Naturally."  I suspect that the bootleggers lifted the four tracks from "Anthology 2" and then used another source for the other two.  The Palais des Sports show occupies the rest of side two.  It is not nearly as clean as the Blackpool concert recordings but still sounds okay for a vintage live recording.  It begins with a typically raucous work out on "Twist and Shout."  It is followed by a punchy performance of "She's a Woman."  McCartney's vocal is very exciting.  A lively version of "I'm a Loser" is next.  It sounds a little sloppy but I like it.  The Beatles run through "Can't Buy Me Love" which sounds pretty murky.  I think I hear the crowd singing along during the chorus which I find charming.  "Baby's In Black" is also rather muddy but the vocal is very strong, especially McCartney's harmony vocal.  McCartney tries out some French in his introduction of Ringo for "I Wanna Be Your Man."  Ringo is poorly recorded but he gives a very enthusiastic performance.  Harrison gets his turn at the mike for "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" where he sounds more comfortable and passionate than he does on the studio version.  The Beatles kick out the jams with "Rock and Roll Music" which is very exciting despite the muddy sound.  Lennon's throat shredding vocal is thrilling.  In the original concert this was followed by performances of "I Feel Fine" and "Ticket to Ride" but the record jumps ahead to the encore, which is "Long Tall Sally."  The recording is a bit cacophonous but the performance is explosive.  It ends the show and the record with a bang.  I'm always a bit hesitant to endorse a bootleg but the Blackpool shows are essential.  "The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl" has my favorite Beatles' live recordings but only because the thunderous roar of the crowd is so exciting.  The Blackpool shows feature superior performances and make for more comfortable listening.  The song selection is terrific as well.  The Palais des Sports show is basically just gravy.  The band plays well but the songs aren't as good and the sound quality is not as sharp as either the Blackpool or Hollywood Bowl recordings.  I'm still happy to have it though.  The Blackpool shows have been bootlegged multiple times, there are probably better versions than this one.  The mastering is decent but the vinyl has some sporadic surface noise.  I'm also not happy that the running order of the Blackpool shows is messed up.  Nonetheless Beatlemaniacs ought to have this in some form.  Recommended to people who think the Hollywood Bowl shows are too noisy. 

For Your Love - The Yardbirds

For Your Love
The Yardbirds
Epic BN 26167/LN 24167
1965

The top picture depicts a counterfeit copy of this album that I bought in Berkeley in the early 1980s.  I was pretty green back then, but I could tell it wasn't an original copy because of the sleeve which was thin and without paper slicks like a 1980s sleeve.  Also it was far less expensive than what originals normally sold for.  However the record had what appeared to be an authentic Epic label so I assumed it was some sort of reissue.  I had seen plenty of bootlegs by then but they were always shoddy looking, so it never occurred to me that this was a bootleg.  Years later I acquired a mono original.  It is a little worn but it still sounds better than the counterfeit which is an inferior pressing.  I probably ought to just get rid of the fake one but it amuses me to be reminded of my youthful folly.  This was the Yardbirds' debut album in the United States.  It has no U.K. equivalent being cobbled together from singles, an EP and a couple of unreleased tracks.  Although Jeff Beck is depicted on the album cover and discussed in the liner notes, he only appears on 3 tracks (from the EP.)  The rest of the tracks feature Eric Clapton on lead guitar.  He left the band when they shifted from blues to a more commercial pop-oriented sound as represented by the Graham Gouldman penned title track which was the group's first hit single.  I am a big fan of that song, it was the song that made me fall for the band when I heard it on an oldies radio station as a young teenager.  It is extremely catchy, driven by typically crisp drumming from Jim McCarty with a dramatic shift in tempo in the middle.  It is augmented by bongos and Brian Auger on harpsichord which expands its instrumental texture.  It is a brilliantly produced, classic single.  My two favorite tracks both feature Jeff Beck.  The band's cover of Mose Allison's "I'm Not Talking" is breathtaking.  Beck practically invents hard rock guitar in the song with a devastating riff and two smoking hot solos that leave me saying "Eric who?"  The interplay between Beck and the rhythm section is thrilling and gets me going big time.  I think this was the most exciting rock song ever recorded at that point and it still sounds fantastic fifty years later.  The band employs the same formula for Keith Relf's bluesy "I Ain't Done Wrong" which has more dazzling guitar work from Beck including a spectacular solo and a dynamic duet with Relf's harmonica.  Nobody in rock was making music like this before Beck joined the Yardbirds.  You can literally hear a new style of rock being created.  Nothing else on the album comes close to these three tracks.  The best of the remaining songs is a cover of Calvin Carter's "I Ain't Got You" which features what I consider Clapton's best studio solo with the Yardbirds.  It is a hard driving performance and my favorite version of this much covered song.  It was originally the B-side of the group's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" single which is also on this album, but it should have been the A-side since it is a much better record.  "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" is too slick and poppy for my taste, I prefer the rawer live version of this song on "Five Live Yardbirds."  The song only comes to life during Clapton's all too brief Chuck Berry-style guitar solo.  Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" was the band's first single.  It was a flop but I think it deserved a better fate.  It is an energetic song driven by an urgent guitar riff with a frenetic harmonica solo from Relf in the instrumental rave-up.  The B-side of that first single was "A Certain Girl" which is not particularly memorable although I enjoy its call and response structure as well as Clapton's noisy guitar solo.  "Got to Hurry" was the B-side to "For Your Love."  It is a lumbering blues instrumental dominated by Clapton's sterling guitar work that foreshadows his future work with John Mayall.  "My Girl Sloopy" would later be a massive hit for the McCoys under the title "Hang On Sloopy."  The song doesn't sound like a Yardbirds song and their version isn't very convincing, particularly in Relf's awkward vocal.  Jeff Beck's guitar runs make the song listenable and the group does manage to cram four rave-ups into the song.  The group's cover of the Shirelles' "Putty (In Your Hands)" isn't a Yardbirds style song either.  I've read that Jim McCarty claimed that the group recorded this song and the cover of Major Lance's "Sweet Music" to appease Clapton who thought they would be better singles than "For Your Love."  I find it hard to believe that Clapton had such bad taste and in any case both songs were recorded before "For Your Love."  Neither song was originally released in England which is hardly surprising.  "Sweet Music" was one of the worst recordings the group ever made and it severely exposes Relf's limitations as a vocalist.  It was produced by Manfred Mann and it would have been better suited to his own group.  I love nearly every Yardbirds album that I own and this one is no exception but I'm hesitant to recommend it.  You can get all the essential tracks here on compilation albums and not have to suffer through "Sweet Music."  On the other hand the record is historic and I love the cover.  I'm so fond of it that I can't even bring myself to get rid of my counterfeit copy.  The record has an aura to it that you don't find on most comps for which I recommend it to passionate Yardbirds fans.

A Collection of Beatles Oldies - The Beatles

A Collection of Beatles Oldies
The Beatles
Parlophone PCS 7016
1966

Here's a post to honor Sir George Martin, who passed away on March 8.  I revere him as the greatest of all rock producers.  I suppose "Abbey Road" or "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" would be more appropriate selections to showcase his great work with the Fabs but I've already done posts on them.  The "Anthology" albums would be good as well since they reveal the raw Beatles tracks and the mistakes before Martin helped the Beatles transform them into the pop classics they would become.  "Let It Be," which is the only Beatles studio album Martin did not get credit for producing (although he supervised the initial recording), displays his brilliance by his absence since it is so poorly produced by Phil Spector, a guy so heavy handed that I would not even consider him worthy to bring Sir George his afternoon tea.  Even this lowly album displays Martin's greatness.  It was the first Beatles greatest hits album, crassly assembled by E.M.I. to cater to the Christmas market in 1966.  With its shoddy cover art and haphazard assembly of tracks (why omit "Please Please Me"?) it seems like a crude commercial project, yet it still shines like a diamond amongst the dross.  It features 16 wonderful songs largely drawn from the Beatles' hit U.K. singles many of which had not appeared on a U.K. album at the time.  They are joined by two beloved album tracks "Yesterday" and "Michelle" as well as an unreleased (in the U.K.) track "Bad Boy" which appeared in the U.S. on "Beatles VI."  If I had been a British fan I would have bought the album for "Bad Boy" alone as it is one of my all time favorite Beatles covers.  Martin's influence on the record is most obvious with "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby."  Martin is generally acknowledged as persuading Paul McCartney to employ a string quartet on "Yesterday" rather than conventional rock instrumentation and was largely responsible for the string score.  I believe that the strings are the crucial element in the song that makes the lyrics seem deeper than they are on paper.  Martin also wrote the string score for "Eleanor Rigby" which greatly enhances the melancholy feeling produced by the lyrics (according to Mark Lewinsohn, Martin received a mere 15 pounds for his arrangement.)  Always a perfectionist, Martin also supervised stereo mixes for several of the singles on the album which had originally been released in mono, most notably on "I Want To Hold Your Hand" which greatly improved on the horrible fake stereo mix that Capitol used on "Meet The Beatles."  Martin was very adept at helping the Beatles realize their vision and achieve the sound they wanted, aside from their musical quality they made the most wonderful sounding records of their era.  The unforgettable opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night," the cacophony of sound effects on "Yellow Submarine," the feedback that opens "I Feel Fine," the booming bass riff that drives "Paperback Writer" all testify to the tight connection between the Beatles and Martin that produced such fantastic records.  The staggering creativity and immediacy revealed on these 16 tracks demonstrate an inspired partnership between the two most talented songwriters in the history of rock music and the modest man who recognized their genius and helped them create the best records of my lifetime.  This record is so stacked with great music, if the band had broken up in 1966 they'd still be at the top of the rock pantheon.  However the band still had 3 more years of unparalleled achievement ahead of them including some of Martin's most inspired work with the group.  This record was rendered obsolete by "1962-1966" which has every song on here aside from "Bad Boy."  That song as well as all of the non-LP singles on here are on the two "Past Masters" compilations as well.  I'm still happy to have it though, it might be the best single slab of pop music vinyl ever pressed, nothing but greatness.  It was never released by Capitol in the U.S., presumably because nobody there could stand the thought of releasing an album with 16 tracks on it.  I've found it inspiring to listen to this these past couple of weeks as I mourn the passing of this great man.  The world of the Beatles and those who love them has grown darker and colder now that Sir George is gone.  I can never thank him enough for helping to make the music that has mattered the most to me in my life.  Recommended to people who only want a single Beatles LP.

Is It Love? - Cilla Black

Is It Love?
Cilla Black
Capitol ST 2308
1965 

This is my belated tribute to Cilla Black who died last August.  This was her debut album in the United States.  Seven of its eleven tracks are taken from her English debut album, "Cilla" and there are also two British singles, an American single and one previously unreleased track.  The album opens with the single "Is It Love?" which Black performed in the movie "Ferry Across the Mersey."  It was written by Bobby Willis who she would later marry.  The single flopped but I think it deserved a better fate.  It is my favorite track on the album.  Black gives the song a sultry romantic treatment on the verses before unleashing her soaring voice full throttle on the choruses.  "I'm Not Alone Any More" was written by Clive Westlake and the British singer Kenny Lynch.  It is another one of my favorite tracks on the album.  It is driven by a dynamic string arrangement and a terrific soulful vocal from Black that displays her range to great effect.  "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was a hit single in England, but the Righteous Brothers classic single rendered it irrelevant in the American market.  She sings it well but the arrangement pales in comparison to Phil Spector's extravaganza.  Next up is a cover of the Little Anthony and the Imperials' hit "Goin' Out of My Head."  It sticks pretty close to the original and though she gives a strong performance, it seems pointless to me.  I feel the same about her cover of Doris Troy's "What'cha Gonna Do About It."  She closes side one with a pop standard, Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To."  The song has a swinging big band arrangement and a booming vocal from Black.  It has a lot of energy, but I'd prefer a more subdued and romantic interpretation for the song.  Side two opens with another pop standard, Victor Young's "Love Letters."  I like Black's romantic vocal and the restrained, contemporary arrangement.  "(Love is like a) Heat Wave" is another useless cover that copies the classic version by Martha and the Vandellas.  It is followed by another pop standard, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Ol' Man River."  The song is given a punchy big band arrangement and Black's big voice handles the song with ease.  I suspect it was largely included just to showcase her vocal skill.  The album concludes with a pair of Bacharach/David songs originally recorded by Dionne Warwick, "This Empty Place" and "Anyone Who Had a Heart" which was a big hit single for Black in England.  Neither song strays far from the Warwick versions although I prefer Bacharach's subtler arrangements.  Warwick was a more seductive and smoother singer than Black which I think suits the songs better.  Black's powerful voice is too robust for the sensitivity of the two songs.  Black was a talented singer with a fabulous voice, but this album is undermined by the excessive amount of useless covers.  I also would have preferred a more rock oriented selection of material although I can't deny she handles the pop standards quite well.  Although she was often associated with the British Invasion because of her connection to the Beatles, Brian Epstein and George Martin, she was more in the mold of a classic pop crooner.  She had the skill to sing anything, but I suspect that she was most comfortable with the cabaret/pop standard material.  I'm not a big fan of that stuff but I still buy Black's records whenever I see them because I like her voice so much.  Recommended to fans of Timi Yuro.

Please Please Me/Introducing the Beatles/The Early Beatles - The Beatles

Please Please Me
The Beatles
Parlophone PCS 3042
1963

Introducing the Beatles
The Beatles
Vee-Jay Records SR 1062
1964

The Early Beatles
The Beatles
Apple Records ST 2309
1965

I recently watched the documentary "Good Ol' Freda" which is about Freda Kelly, Brian Epstein's secretary who ran the Beatles' official fan club.  I loved the film, she seems like a really good person and her stories were fantastic, especially the ones about the early days when the group was just becoming famous.  I've always wished that I could have witnessed Beatlemania first hand and Kelly's perspective on it fascinated me.  Thus I pulled out the Fabs' first album to experience a little bit of those heady days myself. "Please Please Me" is far from my favorite Beatles' album, but I dig its youthful exuberance and innocence.  It is best experienced in the Parlophone version which has the most songs and a classic cover picture.  Mine is a reissue from the early 1980s I believe, I no longer remember when I bought it.  The Vee-Jay version was the first Beatles album released in America.  Vee-Jay got it when the idiots at Capitol Records passed on it.  I have a counterfeit version.  Originals are not hard to find but I don't think they are worth their exorbitant cost.  I bought mine in a chain record store around 1974.  It was among the first Beatles albums that I bought, I chose it because it was cheaper than the Capitol/Apple albums.  The cover says stereo but the record sounds mono to me, which I prefer.  It follows the running order of the Parlophone album but drops "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why."  Capitol belatedly issued "The Early Beatles" to replace the Vee-Jay album when Vee-Jay's license to the material expired.  Capitol crudely jumbled up the running order and released only 11 of the original 14 tracks on the Parlophone version.  This version restores "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" but drops "I Saw Her Standing There," "Misery" and "There's A Place."  I have an Apple reissue that I bought in the mid-1970s because I couldn't find a copy of the Parlophone album living out in the suburbs and shopping at crummy chain record stores.  The Parlophone album is the one I play when I want to hear this music.  I keep the other two only as a dumb collector thing.  The album opens with the Lennon/McCartney composition "I Saw Her Standing There" which is one of the Beatles' most successful rock and roll songs.  I've always loved it and I think it ranks with the best work of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly as one of the definitive statements of the genre.  McCartney's urgent vocal and that irresistible, shuffling riff still thrill me 40 years after I first heard them.  The Vee-Jay album omits McCartney's count-in to the song which invariably irks me on the rare occasions that I give it a spin.  Lennon and McCartney's "Misery" is a bit maudlin but the expressive joint McCartney and Lennon vocal makes it palatable for me.  Arthur Alexander's "Anna" is one of the strongest tracks on the record thanks to a mesmerizing and sensitive vocal from Lennon.  The group's cover of the Cookies' Goffin/King hit "Chains" suffers from a weak George Harrison vocal although the harmony vocals (always a Beatles strength) are very pleasing.  Ringo does better with a rocking cover of the Shirelles' "Boys" that benefits from his enthusiasm as well as a superbly messy guitar solo from Harrison.  "Ask Me Why" is a Lennon/McCartney original that features another strong Lennon vocal that makes it sound deeper than it really is.  Side one concludes with "Please Please Me" the group's classic breakthrough single.  More than 50 years after its original release, the song still sparkles with inventiveness and brilliance.  As a kid I failed to recognize the sexual undertone to the song, which makes it seem even bolder given the repressed era in which it first appeared.  Side two opens with the group's debut single "Love Me Do."  Even as a child I thought the song was inane but I'm won over by the joint vocal and Lennon's harmonica playing as well.  "P. S. I Love You" shows off McCartney's romantic side to great effect.  From the very beginning the man has had a gift for silly love songs.  The band turns to the Shirelles again for a cover of "Baby It's You" that is given a tremendous dramatic interpretation by Lennon that shreds the original.  The Lennon/McCartney original "Do You Want to Know a Secret" proves to be a good vehicle for Harrison suiting the limitations of his range and his natural understated and laconic style.  McCartney pulls out all the stops for a romantic interpretation of "A Taste of Honey" worthy of a pop crooner.  The final Lennon/McCartney original is "There's a Place" which is notable for its introspective lyrics and its churning, distinctively British Invasion sound.  The side ends with the band's explosive interpretation of "Twist and Shout" which thanks to Lennon's throat shredding performance is an eternal rock classic, rivaling the best work of James Brown and Little Richard in its intensity and passion.  If the Beatles had never recorded another album, they'd still have a place in rock history for this wonderful record, one of the very best of its era.  I can only imagine how exciting it must have been when people heard it for the first time, how I envy them that thrill.  Recommended to people who wish they could have seen the Beatles at the Cavern Club.

Beatles VI - The Beatles

Beatles VI
The Beatles
Capitol ST 2358
1965

My 300th post.  After more than three and a half years of blogging I expected to be farther along than this.  I have not made much of a dent in my collection.  I've probably bought close to 300 albums since I started this blog.  Even if I blog for another 40 years I'll probably never get around to all the albums I want to write about.  I am determined to get through all of my Beatles albums though. They've been my favorite band for most of my life and they were the reason I started collecting records in the first place.  I've done more than half of their albums already so I should be able to get to all of them in the next couple of years.  So for post number 300, I give you "Beatles VI."  It is another one of those phony albums that Capitol Records cobbled together with singles and tracks they left off of their versions of the Beatles' albums for Parlophone in England.  This one takes "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," "Eight Days a Week," "Words of Love," "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," "What You're Doing," and "Every Little Thing" from "Beatles for Sale."  It lifts "You Like Me Too Much," "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" and "Tell Me What You See" off of "Help!" which hadn't even been released yet.  "Yes It Is" was the b-side of the "Ticket to Ride" single.  "Bad Boy" was an unreleased track that would not appear in England until it was stuck on the compilation album "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" in late 1966.  Despite the hodge podge construction of its tracks, it is a fairly cohesive and enjoyable record, mostly on the strength of the covers though.  The only first rate Lennon/McCartney composition on the record is "Eight Days a Week" which was a chart-topping single.  From the faded up jangly guitar intro to the hand claps to the way they string out the word "love" the song is full of those inspired touches that made the Beatles so special.  "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" shows the influence of folk-rock on the Beatles which would be more pronounced on "Help!" and "Rubber Soul."  The lyrics are a bit whiny but I admire the personal quality of the songwriting.  "What You're Doing" is also a folk-rock song but the only distinctive thing about it is the guitar riff.  "Yes It Is" is an old fashioned romantic ballad mostly notable for Lennon's heartfelt vocal and the strong harmony vocals.  "Tell Me What You See" is among the least distinguished songs Lennon and McCartney ever wrote.  It sounds nice though, courtesy of McCartney's electric piano playing and some Latin-flavored percussion.  "Every Little Thing" is banal and I consider its celebration of female subservience to be distasteful, but the music is appealing, particularly the timpani in the chorus.  George Harrison's contribution to the record is "You Like Me Too Much" which is inane lyrically but I like the piano lines (courtesy of John, Paul and George Martin) and it has a catchy melody.  The Beatles' songs may be pedestrian (by Beatles standards) but the four cover songs are first rate.  Their version of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" sticks very close to the original but the other three covers are fantastic.  "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," is sung by Paul McCartney in full rocker mode.  Lieber and Stoller's "Kansas City" was originally a hit for Wilbert Harrison and Little Richard recorded a version adding his song "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" which was the model for the Beatles' cover (Capitol omitted Little Richard's song from the listing on the album sleeve and the inner label.)  McCartney trounces Harrison's version and I prefer his version to Little Richard's as well.  Lennon takes on Larry Williams with "Bad Boy" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" and absolutely shreds the originals.  I think both rank with "Twist and Shout," "Rock and Roll Music" and "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" as being among the best covers Lennon recorded with the Beatles.  "Bad Boy" in particular is outstanding, Lennon obviously connected with the song and sings it with great gusto and feeling.  In addition to being the greatest rock band in the history of the universe, the Beatles were also the best rock and rollers to come out of England, nobody else comes close including the Rolling Stones.  This record is relatively minor in the Beatles' catalogue, but even a minor Beatles record is essential.  I would say that this music ought to be heard on "Beatles for Sale" and "Help!" where it belongs, but this album is worth having for "Bad Boy" by itself.  Plus the cover picture is great.  Recommended to fans of "Beatles '65."

Hear! Hear! - The Searchers

Hear! Hear!
The Searchers
Mercury MG 20914
1964

The second best group to emerge from Liverpool in the 1960s recorded a live album at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany just like the Beatles.  It was recorded and released in England in 1963 and released in the U.S. the following year.  The Beatles' "Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962" was a rip-off released long after the Beatles had broken up although an interesting artifact for Beatlemaniacs.  The Searchers' album is actually a pretty good record.  It sounds a lot better than the Fabs' record mostly because it was recorded when the Star Club was closed with more professional equipment.  The audience noise that appears between tracks was added later.  So I guess you could argue it is not really a live album in the conventional sense.  The songs are mostly rock and roll oldies.  There are a pair of Buddy Holly songs, "Listen to Me" and "Learning the Game" (weirdly listed as "Led in the Game" in the liner notes.  The Searchers also tackled Fats Domino's "Rosalie," Bo Diddley's "I Can Tell," Chris Kenner's "Sick and Tired," The Drifters' "Sweets For My Sweets," Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and The Coasters' "Ain't That Just Like Me"  The liner notes incorrectly credit the song to Claude Demetrius and Fleecie Moore presumably someone mixed it up with their song "Ain't That Just Like a Woman."  The song was actually written by Billy Guy and Earl Carroll (of "Speedo" fame.)  For the most part the group did not stray too far from the original versions in their covers, but they are poppier.  The group's crisp sound and polished vocals make many of the songs sound smoother and more removed from their rhythm and blues origin.  There are a few instances where the Searchers changed the songs more radically.  For the band's cover of James Brown's "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" (released by Brown under the pseudonym Nat Kendrick and the Swans), they gave the song a Merseybeat transformation speeding up the tempo, riffing with jangly guitars and singing a repeated refrain of "yeah" that makes the song barely recognizable.  The Olympics' "Hully Gully" received a similar makeover being taken at a breakneck pace with ringing guitars and a soaring vocal from Tony Jackson.  They also transformed Boudleaux Bryant's "Hey Joe" (which was a hit for Carl Smith as well as Frankie Laine) with a full on rocked up attack with great results.  The one new song on the record is "I Sure Know a Lot About Love."  The song has no writing credit but it has the classic Searchers' sound with a reverb laden joint vocal and a twangy guitar riff.  It reminds me of their hit cover of "Love Potion No. 9."  It is my favorite track on the album and I would prefer more tracks like it rather than all the oldies although I presume that was what the band played in their Hamburg shows just as the Beatles did.  I don't approve of the lack of originality on the album, but I still enjoy it consistently.  The Searchers performed with a lot of enthusiasm and energy and I've always dug their distinctive sound.  Their choice of covers is excellent as well.  The dubbed applause is very annoying though, I wish they had recorded an actual show instead.  Recommended to people who prefer "Love Potion No. 9" over "Needles and Pins."

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl - The Beatles

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
The Beatles
Capitol SMAS 11638
1977

This is my belated acknowledgement of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Beatlemania in the United States with the arrival of the Fabs in New York to play on "The Ed Sullivan Show."  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I may have witnessed that fabled event.  My father claims we watched it but given that I was little more than a baby at the time, it may have been past my bedtime.  In any case I have no memory of it, but I cherish it as much as anybody.  I have really enjoyed all the hype in the press about the anniversary as well as the television program that reunited Paul and Ringo.  I became a Beatles fan in the 1970s well after they had broken up and it seemed to me that they were under-appreciated at the time.  None of my friends liked them much and I was forever hearing that the Rolling Stones, the Who or Led Zeppelin were the world's greatest rock band.  Even worse was the rise of the Bay City Rollers (my sisters were fans) and all the ridiculous comparisons between Rollermania and Beatlemania.  I listened to lesser artists have big hits with crummy covers of Beatles' classics and seethed with resentment.  So it was doubly sweet to me to see the arrival of the Beatles being hailed as a cultural landmark event.  I suppose the ideal album to play to celebrate the anniversary would be "Meet the Beatles" which was the album they were promoting with their visit or "Something New" which features a cover photo of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" but I've already done posts on those records.  So I've opted for this one, the only legitimate issue of a Beatles live album which was drawn from two shows at the Hollywood Bowl, one from August 23, 1964 and one from almost a year later on August 30, 1965.  This album was the first time I got to experience the exquisite pleasure of buying a brand new Beatles album as soon as it came out.  I was thrilled with it at the time and I still love it but some of my enthusiasm is tempered by my disappointment that the record does not contain the full contents of both concerts.  The album consists of 13 songs but runs just a little over 30 minutes which may accurately reflect the length of a Beatles' show but is pretty skimpy for an album.  I have a bootleg of the 1964 show on a record called "30 Nostalgia Hits" and it is all worthwhile.  There are six tracks from the twelve songs they performed at that concert on the album: "Things We Said Today," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Boys," "All My Loving," "She Loves You" and "Long Tall Sally."  The 1965 show provides seven songs: "Twist and Shout," "She's a Woman," "Dizzy Miss Lizzie," "Ticket To Ride," "Can't Buy Me Love," "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" with five other songs from the show not making the album.  The sound quality is phenomenal, George Martin did a brilliant job polishing the recordings and seamlessly editing the two shows together.  It sounds a lot better than my bootleg.  The crowd is loud and the persistent roar is exhilarating but the music is nonetheless clear with decent separation.  The Beatles' performances are excellent, I love the raw energy of the vocals of John and Paul and the instrumental backing is remarkably good considering that they could not hear themselves play.  I suspect they were probably trying harder knowing that they were being recorded for a possible record.  These are by far the best Beatles concert recordings I've ever heard.  I particularly like the raucous performances of "Twist and Shout," "She's A Woman" "Dizzy Miss Lizzie," "Boys," "Help!" and best of all, an incendiary version of "Long Tall Sally."  Martin has preserved the lads' between songs patter on the album which I appreciate but it does make for some temporal inconsistencies when they refer to their latest albums or songs since the album jumps back and forth between 1964 and 1965.  This is a minor complaint though that hardly diminishes the appeal of this wonderful record.  I may be a little prejudiced, but I say this is one of the best rock live albums ever.  If I had access to a time machine and could pick one single show to go back and see, it would be one of these two - the hard part is picking which one!  I go to the Hollywood Bowl quite often, it is one of my favorite venues for a show, and there is not a time that I go there that I don't think about the Beatles having played there.  I wish I had been there, but having this record is the next best thing.  Recommended to Beatles fans too young to have experienced Beatlemania first hand.

Rock Roots - The Zombies

Rock Roots
The Zombies
Decca  Roots 2
1976

Here's a post for Halloween.  Just kidding, aside from their name, the Zombies with their tender and romantic records could hardly be farther from the spirit of Halloween.  I saw them give a wonderful show at the Troubadour back in September.  Well they were calling themselves the Zombies but it was really just Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent with some side men one of whom was Jim Rodford so they could have just as accurately called themselves Argent (they actually did perform "Hold Your Head Up.")  Although Blunstone looks more like a head master nowadays, he still sings with the angelic voice of a schoolboy.  He looks great compared to Argent and Rodford though who are definitely showing their age.  It was an old crowd too, it was the first time I've been to a show where everyone rushed up to the balcony to get one of the few seats available because no one wanted to stand.  I was well back in line and I still got right up front in the pit.  I'm glad they are still working, they've been one of my favorite groups since I was a teenager.  As I mentioned in my post on "Time of the Zombies" the box set of "Zombie Heaven" has rendered all Zombies compilations obsolete and this one is no exception, all of it is on the box.  Of course the box is a bunch of CDs and this is vinyl so it has value to me.  I was thrilled when I found it at Aron's Records back in the 1980s.  Although the liner notes claim that 10 of the 16 songs on the album had never been released on an LP prior to this album, they are referring to England (this is an import.)  This claim is untrue since one of those 10 tracks ("I Remember When I Loved Her") appeared on the Zombies' English debut album, "Begin Here."  In the American market 4 of the non-album tracks on here are on "Time of the Zombies" and 2 others appear on the London Records compilation "Early Days."  Since the album consists largely of the Zombies' Decca singles, the later See For Miles Zombies singles collection has almost all of it as well.  Be that as it may, I'm still glad I have it since I don't have the See For Miles compilation.  Side one is wonderful.  It kicks off with their 1964 classic hit single "She's Not There" and its B-side the Beatlesque "You Make Me Feel Good" which is so good it sounds like it could have been an A-side in its own right.  It has a brief bit of studio noise before it starts which I haven't heard on any other recording of the song.  Their 1964 follow up single "Leave Me Be" is next.  The single flopped but I think it is a great song, one of my favorites in their catalog.  I like the contrast between the delicate verses and the driving chorus led by Argent's dynamic organ line.  "Indication" from 1966 tanked as well but it is another excellent song.  It is one of the hardest rocking songs they ever did and the organ and guitar interplay at the end of the song is very exciting.  Although the liner notes indicate the 2.07 running time of the abbreviated American version of the single, this is the full length 2.59 version of the song. "How We Were Before" was its flip side.  It is the sort of delicate, wistful song the Zombies excelled at and unlike most of their songs it is guitar driven with bongos providing percussion.  It is one of the few Zombies songs written by Colin Blunstone as opposed to Chris White or Rod Argent.  "I Remember When I Loved Her" is in a similar vein, a quiet, sad song full of atmosphere.  It was the B-side of a 1965 U. S. single in addition to its appearance on "Begin Here."  "Is This The Dream" was a 1965 single.  It is a punchy, uptempo tune with a strong vocal from Blunstone and a brief but powerful electric piano solo from Argent.  It reminds me of the Animals.  The side concludes with "Woman" which was the B-side of "Leave Me Be."  It is a propulsive riff-driven tune with an energetic organ solo from Argent as well as one of Paul Atkinson's best guitar solos.  Side two opens with the Zombies' other hit single for Decca, "Tell Her No" released in January 1965.  Blunstone's vocal really sends me on this one.  "Whenever You're Ready" was an unsuccessful single from 1965, but it deserved a better fate.  It has that special Zombies mixture of tenderness and power with a strong melody and plenty of instrumental force.  It is followed by its B-side, "I Love You" which was a hit for the American group the People in 1968.  I like the Zombies' version much better, particularly Blunstone's vocal.  It is followed by the only non-singles on the record, "Summertime" and "I Can't Make Up My Mind" which appeared on "Begin Here" in 1965.  "Summertime" is also on the group's American debut album, but as far as I am aware "I Can't Make Up My Mind" was never on vinyl in the United States.  "Summertime" is the Gershwin classic that has been covered countless times but the Zombies' jazzy version is one of my favorites with a fabulous breathy vocal from Blunstone and a terrific piano solo from Argent.  It was one of the highlights of their show at the Troubadour.  "I Can't Make Up My Mind" has a weird bit of studio chatter at the beginning of the take.  It is a moody song driven by a melodic jangly guitar riff that is one of my favorite songs on "Begin Here."  "Remember You" was a single from the soundtrack for the movie "Bunny Lake is Missing."  It was an A-side in England, but in the U.S. it was the B-side to the another song from the film "Just Out of Reach" which was left off this album for some reason.  I actually prefer "Just Out of Reach" myself but "Remember You" has its virtues, in particular its jazzy rhythm and some memorable piano work from Argent.  "Gotta Get A Hold of Myself" was the Zombies' penultimate single for Decca in 1966.  I don't believe this was ever released in the U.S. on vinyl.  It was written by Clint Ballard Jr. (who wrote the Hollies' hit "I'm Alive") in collaboration with Angela Riela and had been a single for Dee Dee Warwick in 1965.  The group manage to make it sound Zombieish but it depresses me that they felt compelled to do covers to try and get a hit and it didn't even work.  "The album concludes with another cover, the final Zombies Decca single, "Goin' Out Of My Head" from 1967 which also went unreleased in the American market.  I like it better than the hit version by Little Anthony and the Imperials, if only because it is less melodramatic.  It decidedly isn't very Zombieish, the flip side "She Does Everything For Me" (not on this record alas) is much better.  It was a disappointing finish to their run at Decca.  It is hard to believe that a few months later they would be recording "Odessey and Oracle" creating the best music of their career.  I'm not sure what the point of this record was, as a singles collection it is missing several tracks and as a greatest hits on Decca record it has the very obvious omission of "She's Coming Home."  Nonetheless I'm happy to have it.  When I bought it I hadn't heard many of the songs on it and even now I still enjoy listening to it.  It sounds great, nine of the tracks are in mono and it is a quality pressing.  Aside from "Goin' Out of My Head" every track is good and many are great.  Recommended to Zombie fans who prefer vinyl over CDs.

Kinks/You Really Got Me - The Kinks

 

Kinks

The Kinks

Zafiro ZL-340

1980

You Really Got Me
The Kinks
Reprise R-6143
1964

The UK and American versions of the debut album by the Kinks.  The Kinks have been one of my favorite groups since I first heard them in 1973 on the compilation album "Get It Together."  I've wanted to do an entry on them for awhile but I haven't been able to decide on an album, so I opted to just start at the beginning.  I have the UK version of the record (which was originally released in 1964 on Pye Records in England as NPL 18096) in a Spanish stereo reissue that I bought in Berkeley and an original mono pressing of the American version.  Actually even though the inner label on the Spanish record says stereo, the record still sounds like mono to me.  The mixes on both albums appear to be identical, although the Reprise pressing sounds a little better.  The two versions are similar aside from the Reprise edition missing three tracks on the Pye version, "I Took My Baby Home," "I'm A Lover Not a Fighter" and "Revenge."  The Reprise version has slightly better liner notes and a nice picture of the group on the back cover, other than that I don't think there is any good reason to have it except as a dumb collector thing which is why I have it.  The record is unique among Kinks albums in that more than half of it was written by someone other than Ray Davies.  Davies has six compositions on the album, two of which are first rate.  "You Really Got Me" is of course an eternal rock classic.  I've loved it since I was a teen.  I still remember my outrage when a classmate in physics class in high school played me a tape of Van Halen's cover version which I regarded as sacrilege.  The song's explosive heavy guitar riff and Dave Davies' raucous guitar solo are hard rock landmarks and Ray's urgent, desperate vocal adds to the recording's intensity.  It still sounds powerful nearly 50 years after it was recorded.  "Stop Your Sobbing" is a more sedate but catchy tune that is the only song on the album that hints at Davies' future as a pop craftsman although it isn't as good as the Pretenders' cover version.  As for Davies' other songs, "So Mystifying" is primitive but fun, I like the jangly guitar riff.   "I Took My Baby Home" is a very poppy, almost bubblegum type tune that sounds more like Jan and Dean than a Kinks song.  The only thing I find interesting about it is Ray's harmonica playing.  "Just Can't Go To Sleep" sounds like a girl group type song and the chorus seems to be aping the Beatles with "no no no" replacing "yeah yeah yeah."  "Revenge" is a simple and very short instrumental that Davies co-wrote with the band's manager, Larry Page.  It is probably the most undistinguished song Davies ever wrote.  There are two numbers by the album's producer, Shel Talmy, which are easily the worst songs on the record.  The inane "Bald Headed Woman" sounds like Talmy just made it up at the session.  It is boring until the rave-up at the end.  Talmy got The Who to record this silly ditty as the b-side to "I Can't Explain" which I think is a superior version.  The Australian band The Missing Links also recorded it on their debut album so I guess some people hear something in it that I don't.  "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain" (Talmy seems to have had a thing about hair loss) is just as bad, it sounds like the same song played a little faster.  It is a dumb and repetitious song that is sheer tedium to listen to.  Too bad Reprise didn't choose to leave these two off their version of the album, that would have made it better than the Pye version.  The rest of the album consists of covers.  My favorite of the covers is the band's frantic version of Chuck Berry's "Beautiful Delilah" which is full of energy, has an effectively sloppy vocal and features a manic guitar solo.  The band also tackles Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" but their performance here is less exciting.  It pales in comparison to the Yardbirds' version of the song on "Five Live Yardbirds."  That same Yardbirds album also offers a superior version of Slim Harpo's "Got Love If You Want It."  The Kinks version is uninspired, although I do like the two rave-ups.  There is a rocking version of Bo Diddley's "Cadillac" that gets me bopping.  "Long Tall Shorty" is a cover of a song by Tommy Tucker.  It a rhythm and blues tune with crude, boasting lyrics that sound unconvincing coming from Ray Davies although he makes a game effort practically croaking out the lyrics trying to sound tough.  Ray does a little better with "I'm A Lover Not a Fighter" which is a cover of Lazy Lester's 1958 single.  This tune is highly propulsive and Ray's scratchy vocal is delivered with gusto.  The Kinks would never have made it as a rhythm and blues band, but at least they had good taste in covers.  This is the worst Kinks album of the 1960s, but that is as it should be.  They just got better and better as the decade went on.  The one thing that stands out for me on this album is its vitality and energy.  When I saw Ray Davies last year at the Wiltern, those were the two qualities that impressed me as well.  There on stage was a 68 year old man rocking with passion and vigor, his indomitable spirit was still present after all these years.  I consider Davies a brilliant pop craftsman, one of the great songwriters of his era who writes with intelligence and artistry, but inside him beats the heart of a true rock and roller as is evident on this album.  Recommended to people who prefer the Animals over the Zombies.