GEORGE HARRISON - DON'T BOTHER ME - THE MEXICAN BEATLES EP

1971 Mexican EP from the Fab Four released on Apple.  Cat. No. EPEM-10536

This is a bit of a good one - Mexican Beatles EP, which I picked up from the Oxford branch of Our Price on a school trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford - and what caught my eye was that all four tracks showcase George Harrison as singer and writer.  Plus how well these four - one from 1963 the remainder from the 1965/66 period work as a set.

First up is George's debut composition to make it onto tape (that's if you discount the instrumental co-written with John Lennon 'Cry For A Shadow' recorded in Hamburg and released on Polydor as a B Side) "Don't Bother Me" from the Beatles 2nd LP 'With The Beatles'.  And it pretty much sounds like George's first use of the trusty Rickenbaker - it's subsequent use being a major influence on the Byrd in particular.  Next up is the downright brilliant opener to 'Revolver that is "Taxman"- here in the generally better known stereo version - how you tell this apart from the mono version being is that here you get the taxman Mr Wilson - taxman Mr Heath - whereas the mono doesn't has and a noticeably different guitar solo, in both cases courtesy of Paul McCartney.

Side Two gives you the 2 George Harrison songs from 'Rubber Soul' set.  First up the very Byrds-styled "If I Needed Someone" - complete with the David Crosby styled harmony vocals from from Lennon & McCartney.  The connection being reinforced so when you consider that the Hollies covered this, and Graham Nash's subsequent involvement with David Crosby.  Also I seem to remember the legendary John Peel rating the Hollies version as being one of his personal favourites .  The proceedings are rounded off with another good one in the shape of "Think For Yourself"- McCartney on fuzz bass, and a definite move in the direction of psychedelia.

FRENCH MARVIN GAYE SLEEVE

Part of the thing about being a vinyl collector is the cuiros that get thrown up by overseas issues of singles - and generally you tend to find that Europe's one the best motherlodes.  Mainly because most singles in Europe were issuing picture sleeves for singles long before their UK counterparts.

As a taster here's the French issued sleeve for Marvin Gaye's seminal 'What's Going On' - somewhat different to the covershot of Marvin in the rain with his leather coat that is more familiar image (and dare I say more in keeping with the mood of the album).





More of these as and when. But in the meantime - enjoy!

STATESIDE CURIOS - PT.2

A couple more of these vinyl oddities I've accumulated over the years.

First up this 1973 US single from Steppenwolf - a reissue of the downright brilliant 'Born To Wild' with the equally fab 'Magic Carpet Ride' on the flip.  The band's stuff was normally on the following labels -initially RCA Victor, then Stateside-Dunhill then Probe and finally ABC in the UK.  And RCA and then ABC in the US.  So just what is this doing on Roulette is a complete mystery to me - Canadian perhaps?  If anybody out there has any clue I'd be interested to hear from them.

The second selection for today is this 80's reissue of two classics from The Shangri-La's.  On the A Side the rather wonderful 'Remember (Walking In The Sand)' and 'Give Him A Great Big Kiss' on the flip.  It's issued on the golden oldies Collectables imprint - and has their catalogue number - but the label is Sun!  Strange but true!

More of these in due course.

STATESIDE CURIOS

Hi for Feb 2011 - and this is the first of what will become a regular feature - the overseas issues on labels you don't quite expect.  And for starters here's a pair of singles released on EMI’s Stateside label that you don’t normally see.  

Firstly from 1968 The Small Faces’ ‘The Universal’ which I’m guessing is either from Australian or Singapore.  However the Singapore EMI pressings that I’ve come across have manufactured in SEA at the bottom of the label - so my money’s on it being an Aussie release.  Why Stateside?  Immmediate in the UK was distributed by EMI and it wasn't licensed for overseas use - hence Stateside.

The second is this dutch pressing of T.Rex’s ‘Get It On’ as found in a street market in Amsterdam a couple of years ago.  Again it’s going to be the licensing for Bolan’s label Fly which meant that it was issued on Stateside for the Dutch.

A DUSTING OF BLUE-EYED SOUL - IN PRAISE OF CHRIS CLARK, DUSTY AND OTHERS

This is one I’ve been meaning to write for a bit - but like the Lee Hazlewood piece it’s been thought over (and through) for a while!

Been inspired on this one by the similarities between Chris Clark and Dusty Springfield soundwise after fishing out the Chris Clark retrospective of her Motown output issued in 2005 - and spotted whilst doing the washing up no less!

Have to admit that Chris Clark’s somebody I became aware of only really over the last 10 years or so - mainly via the Northern Soul all-nighters that I used to go to. She was one of the 1st white artists signed to Motown - not the first as that honour went to Debbie Dean. She released two LPs - the first being “Soul Sounds form 1967 and currently fetching around the £70 for a mint copy; whilst the 2nd “CC Rides Again” is into the mega rare price bracket if you’re intent on owning a pristine vinyl copy and originally issued in 1969 on the very short lived Motown subsidiary Weed. Tunewise she’s best know for the N. Soul faves - “Love’s Gone Bad”, “I Wan’t To Go Back There” and her version of the Smokey Robinson penned “From Head To Toe”.

But like it’s when you start digging deeper into the rest of the album that the similarities with Dusty become apparent - ie that effortless ability to switch form Soul to Jazz to Blues and taking in a few Beatles cover along the way - “Got To Get You Into My Life” on ‘Soul Sounds’ and “With A Little Help From My Friends” as well as “Get Back” on ‘CC Rides Again’. And the ability to do the Soul thing on contemporary material like Elvis’ “In The Ghetto”.

And what of Dusty? In the 60’s in the UK regarded as a pop singer - and then when the hits began to dry up issuing the then underrated/ignored “Dusty In Memphis” and the gaining success in the US, whilst the UK career/hits somewhat faded.

But back-tracking to 1963 when Dusty was still a member of the folk trio the Springfields it was on a promotion tour of the States that she saw the impact & popularity of the girl group sound - particularly The Shirelles, that made her aware that the soul-based sound was the way forward and not the folky based stuff that the establishment (BBC included) seemed to be content to go with. A fact that also wasn’t lost on the Beatles who included material by The Shirelles, The Miracles, Arthur Alexander, The Marvelettes, and The Cookies on their first two LPs). Which is why come the autumn of ‘63 Dusty announced she was going solo - the first of which was the soul-flavoured pop of “I Only Want To Be With You”. And unsurprisingly the content of Dusty’s first two LPs has more than a fair share of Soul based material on it. Including as it does The Shirelles “Oh No Not By Baby” as well as an early cover on an Aretha Franklin track “It Won’t Be Long” - which appears on Aretha’s 1961 debut for Columbia (a record that is worth some serious checking out if you’re unaware of it!!!!!).

Obviously as Dusty became more successful the material became a lot more mainstream - but check the album tracks along with the single B Sides (very often written by Dusty herself alongside Madeline Bell as in the case of “I’m Gonna Leave You”) and there’s some great blue-eyed soul stuff to be had - “Your Hurting Kind Of Love”, “Ain’t No Sun Since You’ve Been Gone” not forgetting the N. Soul fave “What’s It Gonna Be”, as well as the smokily fabness that is her version of “Spooky” from 1970.

And in Dusty’s wake in the UK you have the likes of those she inspired and influenced such as Billie Davis. Check out her take on Ellie Greenwich’s “Want You To Be My Baby”, “Billy Sunshine” as well as her wonderful version of “Walk In My Shoes”.

"WHAT'S IT GONNA BE" - A DUSTING OF BLUE-EYED NORTHERN SOUL

Released in 1967 "What's It Gonna" is a cracking bit of Northern Soul from the queen of Blue-Eyed Soul herself - Dusty Springfield.

Written by Jerry Ragovay and Mort Shuman - the latter who'd also penned material with his writing partner Doc Pomus for both Ray Charles and The Drifters, as well translating a fair chunk of Jacques Brel's song into English - it was issued on Philips in the UK (cat. no. BF 1608), in US (again on Philips - cat. no. 40498), as well in Australia too - ! (cat. no. BF-326830). The latter being the first copy I bought after having being on the hunt for it for a good few years. And then reissued in the UK again on Philips in 1974 (cat. no. 6006 350). And as per usual it these circumstances didn't get included on any of Dusty's LPs either here in the UK or stateside at the time of it's release.

Like the best of Dusty's soul output it'd work great on an set of similar themed material, sitting quite happily alongside the Shirelles and Arthur Alexander tracks she'd already done up to this point as well the other one that would definitely have to be included - "Spooky".

BELGIAN BEATLES

More from the vinyl rummagings through the collection threw up this one.  The Belgian pressing of the Beatles' Lady Madonna' - the song inspired by McCartney's mum's career as a midwife - and like it's UK counterpart the last to be issued on Parlophone prior to the band's setting up of Apple.  As mentioned on the previous blog regarding the Dutch 'She Loves You', the label design is pretty that of the design/style EMI stopped using in the UK after early 1963 - which in Beatles terms translates as the 1st issues of 'Love Me Do' and 'Please Please Me'.