"Live At The Fillmore - 1997" by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS (November 2022 UK Warner Records 2CD Set with Chris Bellman and Bernie Grundman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...That Was  Beautiful!" 

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS 

"Live At The Fillmore - 1997"

5-STARS *****

 

There are few artists who could release a 4CD live set in 2022 that's nearly 25 years old and still leave you gasping for more! But the much-missed TP is one of them.

I bought the 33-Song 2CD variant (Warner Records 093624882596, Barcode same) of "Live At The Fillmore - 1997" by TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS for under a tenner and my God what a treat. It documents their 20-night 4-week residency at the famous San Francisco Fillmore West venue in January and February 1997 when they would sometimes play for more than 3 hours on any given evening. They ditched strict set playlists and did any old cover version they liked mixed in with deep dive album cuts and one new song a night (The Date I Had With That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen by Mike Campbell on CD1 is one of them). They even took audience prompts – so "Live At The Fillmore - 1997" is genuinely loose and you can feel the fun and energy coming off the stage. All this and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds and the fabulous joy of John Lee Hooker - wow! Here are the details...

USA and UK released 22 November 2022, all songs are by Tom Petty except for the cover versions noted below. The triple-gatefold card sleeve has a cool 24-page colour booklet (attached in the center) and the audio is exceptionally good - Ryan Ulyate and Mike Campbell Producing with Chris Bellman and Bernie Grundman Mastering – names everyone in the audio world trusts – even look out for.

 

CD1 (71:18 minutes, All Tracks Live, All TP Songs Unless Otherwise Noted):

1. Pre-Show (Spoken Interlude)

2. Jammin' Me (7 February)

3. Listen To Her Heart (1 February)

4. Around And Around (3 February, Chuck Berry song, Rolling Stones covered)

5. Good Evening (Spoken Interlude)

6. Lucille (6 February, Little Richard cover)

7. Call Me The Breeze (1 February, J.J. Cale song, Lynyrd Skynyrd covered)

8. Cabin Down Below (1 February)

9. The Internet, Whatever That Is (Spoken Interlude) 

10. Time Is On My Side (7 February, Irma Thomas & Rolling Stones cover)

11. You Don't Know How It Feels (3 February)

12. I'd Like To Love You Baby (3 February, J.J. Cale cover)

13. Ain't No Sunshine (1 February, Bill Withers cover)

14. Homecoming Queen Intro (Spoken Interlude)

15. The Date I Had With That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen (4 February, Mike Campbell & Tom Petty song)

16. Bye Bye Johnny (7 February, Chuck Berry cover)

17. Did Someone Say Heartbreakers Beach Party? (Spoken Interlude)

18. Heartbreakers Beach Party (4 February)

19. Angel Dream (6 February)

20. The Wild One, Forever (31 January)

21. American Girl (7 February)

22. Let's Hear It For Howie & Scott (Spoken Interlude)

23. You Really Got Me (7 February, The Kinks cover)

24. Runnin' Down A Dream (1 February)

 

CD2 (77:57 minutes):

1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (7 February, Rolling Stones cover)

2. It's All Over Now (7 February, Bobby Womack song, Rolling Stones covered)

3. Mr. Roger McGuinn (Spoken Interlude - Founder/Guitarist with The Byrds)

4. It Won't Be Wrong (31 January, Byrds cover)

5. You Ain't Going Nowhere (1 February, Bob Dylan cover)

6. Eight Miles High (1 February, Byrds cover)

7. Honey Bee (3 February)

8. John Lee Hooker, Ladies & Gentlemen (Spoken Interlude)

9. Boogie Chillen (7 February, John Lee Hooker cover)

10. Sorry, I've Just Broken My Amplifier (Spoken Interlude)

11. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (3 February, Bob Dylan cover)

12. You Wreck Me (6 February)

13. Shakin' All Over (7 February, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates cover)

14. Free Fallin' (7 February)

15. Mary Jane's Last Dance (7 February)

16. Louie Louie (7 February, Kingsmen cover)

17. Gloria (1 February, Van Morrison song, Them cover)

18. Alright For Now (7 February)

19. Goodnight (Spoken Interlude)
 

The recordings are live and in your face and yet intimate and never distant. When "Runnin' Down A Dream" hits your speakers at the end of CD1, the Remaster is huge and the band so damn tight and inventive. There's a sympatico between these players that cannot be overstated enough – the little fills from Guitarist Mike Campbell – Benmont Tench on Keyboards – Howie Epstein on Bass and Scott Thurston with Steve Ferrone on Drums - the additional moments they all add – it's just so damn good.

CD1 is 24 tracks 71:18 minutes, CD2 is 19 tracks at 77:57 minutes - so as you can see both discs offer real value for money too. Over on CD2 guest musicians include Roger McGuinn of The Byrds giving the band the jangle-nod and a mighty showing from an elderly "Boogie Chillun" Blues Legend himself John Lee Hooker.

As many have already said, the set is top-heavy with cover versions of songs they loved and inspired them interspersed with brilliant Petty rockers and smoochers. Sometimes a band is cooking and they were on fire. It's not just the Mike Campbell solos on stuff like "Cabin Down Below" or "You Don't Know How It Feels" - but the cool choices like J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and "I'd Like To Love You Baby" - or the rocking Chuck Berry "Bye Bye Johnny". They eat up the Stones, pumping new life into "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction") and Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" - an R&B song closely associated with The Rolling Stones. And to hear that Byrds sound and harmony vocals on "It Won't Be Long" is absolutely magical for an old fart like me - never mind the fabulous guitar sound they got for "Eight Miles High". Even when it seems like he's reached too far like the soulful Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine" - Petty makes it work. He follows fun with touching - a lovely forgotten album track "Angel Dream" - the band in perfect harmony - those keyboard fills (someone in the audience actually shouts in surprise "...That was beautiful!"). By the time you get to the truly fantastic riffage of "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (a stand-out new track on the 1993 "Greatest Hits" set), which he extends into a Rock epic - resistance is pretty much futile. You could roast a hog on their tough Rockin' sound.

I'm now going have to own the 4CD Box Set with 84-songs - dosh-a-lot or not. And I'm sure I speak for millions - I wish Petty and his fantastic band was still here to be able to witness once again this kind of brilliance.

RIP TP - "The Wild One, Forever"...

"Déjà vu" by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG – March 1970 Second Studio Album on Atlantic Records and First As A Four-Piece featuring Added Players Dallas Taylor and Greg Reeves – Guests Included Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful and Jack Nitzsche with Joni Mitchell Guesting On One Track In The Bonus Material (May 2021 UK Rhino '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 5-Disc LP-Sized Hardback Book Presentation (4CDs and 1 VINYL LP) with Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 315 More Like It 

Are Available in my e-Book...

ALL THINGS MUST PASS
1970

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

Over 2,300 E-Pages of Reviews from the discs themselves...

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"...Never Mind The Déjà vu - Dig The Déjà now..."

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's highly-anticipated second album "Déjà vu" (it had advance orders of 2-million copies - a huge number for the day) hit US shops in early March 1970 on Atlantic Records (the 11th to be exact).

So this '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 5-Disc of "Déjà vu" by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG celebration of 4CDs and 1 VINYL LP on Atlantic/Rhino R2 625238 - Barcode 60349784027 (UK released Friday, 14 May 2021) is technically a whole year and a bit late to the nostalgia party - delayed of course by COVID-19.

But first out of the cardboard container carton and it's an impressive LP-Sized beast indeed. The gold-sticker on the shrink-wrap doesn't have anywhere to go once you open it, nor does the attached details page on the rear which is impractical to say the least – so I put them carefully on the inside and I suggest you do the same.

What’s new? Of the 38 tracks outside the album across CDs 2, 3 and 4 - 29 versions are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED with the remaining 9 having been on preceding compilations and reissues.

CD1: 36:21 minutes (Remastered Album, 10 Tracks)

CD2: 70:36 minutes (Demos, 18 Tracks) – All Tracks Unreleased except 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 16 which were previously made available on compilations issued between 1991 and 2018

CD3: 43:00 minutes (Outtakes, 11 Tracks) – All Tracks Unreleased except 5

CD4: 41:26 minutes (Alternates, 9 Tracks) - All Tracks Unreleased except 4

VINYL LP (Housed Inside The Book Flap, 10 Tracks)

Artwork - those of us that were there (and not square as we used to say) will remember with huge affection that fantastic pimpled hardback book-cover sleeve with its pasted-on photo. Word was that a single album cover cost Atlantic Records something like 79c in 1970 and 89c for a the undiluted luxury of a gatefold. But this elaborate baby put them back just under two dollars - hence there is a note from Atlantic Records reproduced in the 20-page booklet that tells retailers this LP will sell for $5.99 RRP which was way pricey for the time.

But is this 4CD/1LP version worth £65.00? Yes and no. The 20-page booklet is a lovely thing to look at - but at only 20-pages and despite Cameron Crowe's cool new liner notes (with photos from Band Archivist Joel Bernstein) - feels a tad slight after such a long wait for this classic album. Many of the 1969 photos are of a six-piece group - Bassist Dallas Taylor and Drummer Greg Reeves of course making up band-members five and six and quite rightly credited as such on the front cover (albeit in lower case). The ace in the hole lies in the new mastering.

The AUDIO Remaster by CHRIS BELLMAN at Bernie Grundman Mastering is stupendous - so much clearer and warmer for the album proper, but unbelievably, just the same for 'most' of the demos on Disc 2. They are not all clear - the first two have remained unreleased for obvious hissy reasons and the much-vaulted duet on "Our House" with Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell is rubbish sounding - a cute time-capsule moment you will listen to once and quickly forget. But there are loads of others that are simply stunning. If anything - I found Disc 2 just as good a listen (albeit more unplugged acoustic) as the main event. That almost studio-quality demo of the title track "Déjà vu" is hair-raisingly good and so sophisticated too.

So why only four-stars and not a stonking five? Disc 3 offers ten 'Outtakes' - or a possible third album (the one that never appeared). But man does it let the side down. Much of it is wholly uninspired and so disappointing - ending in an abomination called "Right On Rock 'n' Roll". The better tracks like "Ivory Tower" and "Bluebird Revisited" are stuff we already have albeit here in different form. The versions of Crosby's brilliant "Laughing" and "The Lee Shore" with the 1969 Vocal rather than the one re-recorded for the 1991 CSN box are good too. But the six others are iffy to my ears and kind of ruin their mystique (if that makes sense). But then – yet again - and as you are just about to write-off the set of a could-have-been a barnstormer - Disc 4 up and whomps you in the aural gonads with alternatives that are fabulous too – that Harmonica Version of "Helpless" being particularly brill. Guests on the main album including Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead playing Steel Guitar on "Teach The Children", John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful playing Harmonica on "Déjà vu" and Jack Nitzsche giving it some Electric Piano on "Country Girl".

What of the nine that have been issued before? Clearly marked as such, these alternates turned up mostly on Solo Career retrospectives across the years (Stills' "Carry On", Nash's "Reflections", Crosby's "Voyager" and of course Neil Young's Archive Series) - so you're buying them twice effectively if like me you've diligently collected anything CSNY. In fact there is a noticeable withholding of ace material - Neil Young fans will notice only one - a demo of "Birds". But I can tell you, it's bloody gorgeous and again unbelievable that something this good stayed in the can all these decades. And those already-issued nine were used on previous CD sets for a 'reason' - they're damn good and came with ace almost immaculate audio - so anyone coming to this project fresh-faced will be amazed by them too. 

To sum up - the 5-Disc '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' of "Déjà vu" is overly expensive for what you get. But is it worth the spondulicks? Ab-so-bloody-lutely! The presentation feels and oozes class, the CD audio is gorgeous and the Previously Unreleased stuff contains actual bonuses worthy of the name.

Even on an off day - CSNY's noodling of half a century ago feels like genuine magic in 2021 - and that happened every time they opened their mouths or picked up a guitar. I can't believe that it's taken over 50 years for the many gems on this belated celebration to see the light of day. Bottom-line - never mind the Déjà vu, dig the Déjà now...

"An American Treasure: Deluxe Edition" by TOM PETTY (September 2018 Reprise 4CD Retrospective - Chris Bellman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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E-Book Available Now on AMAZON Sites

Part of the SOUNDS GOOD MUSIC BOOK Series

30 Different Titles

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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"...From The Fire..."

Like so many guys of my age (I was 60 yesterday, 28 September 2018, the day of this release) - I was taken aback my Tom Petty's untimely passing in October 2017 – it hurt me way more than I knew how to deal with. After Prince and Bowie – he was another hero of my musical life gone too soon. So I pre-ordered the 4CD 'Deluxe Edition' of "An American Treasure" months back - and man - what a slam-dunk brill release it is – a truly fitting tribute.

Compiled with the full co-operation of his Heartbreaker band mates Guitarist Mike Campbell and Keyboard whizz Benmont Tench, Producer and Mixer Ryan Ulyate and especially his family (wife Dana and daughter Adria) – the Deluxe Edition of "An American Treasure" on Reprise 9362-49055-6 (Barcode 093624905561) gives you four Discs covering the 1970s on Disc 1 (15 Tracks, 52:53 minutes), the 1980s on Disc 2 (18 Tracks, 63:42 minutes), the 1990s on Disc 3 (14 Tracks, 56:45 minutes) and the 2000s onwards on Disc 4 (16 Tracks, 72:11 minutes).

There are 63 cuts in total (60 songs with 1 Radio Spot and 2 Spoken Intros) – and of the 60 they are broken down into 41 Previously Unreleased versions (outtakes, alternates and live renditions), 16 Album Cuts, 1 Non-Album UK 7" single B-side and 1 vinyl-only LP song from the "Kiss My Amps 2" compilation making its CD debut here. Ace Engineer CHRIS BELLMAN (at Bernie Grundman Mastering) has beautifully mastered this release. I can't emphasise enough the gorgeous audio quality on this release - it's astonishingly good. Sure there's the occasional audio lapse when recordings come from Stadiums and Arenas (usually included for performance and personal reasons) - but those are few and far between. Even familiar and previously well-mastered songs like the Seventies material is given an aural makeover here - lifted up into something stunning (check out the 'extended' version of "When The Time Comes" without the fade out or "You're Gonna Get It" with the Strings brought forward in the mix so you can hear their clever "Purple Rain" type additions to the end of the song).

In fact Campbell states over and over again that he wants fans to 'come into the songs' through these versions and even though you could argue that 16 album cuts you already own (most of whom don't need remastering) is excessive when we could have had more unreleased from what we're being told is a huge unheard archive – the 16 are included for deeply personal reasons as each liner note explains. Speaking of what album cuts are up for grabs – the team have gone deep into his catalogue to highlight what they clearly feel are overlooked nuggets - "The Wild One, Forever" from the self-titled debut, "No Second Thoughts" from the 2nd album "You're Gonna Get It", "Alright For Now" from 1989’s "Full Moon Fever" which often ended live shows on a shared band/audience high note and "You And Me" from 2002's "The Last DJ" - the final musical moment he and his wife shared before he passed (all of which are beautifully rendered by Bellman's masterful transfers).

And as for the unreleased stuff - how gems like "Surrender" (kept off the first album), "Keeping Me Alive" (a Southern Accents outtake) or even the Rockabilly fun of "Lonesome Dave" (from the "Greatest Hits" sessions) were left off albums or the flipsides of singles is a mystery. You also notice how the band so complimented his tunes like the Tench's keyboard part to "Deliver Me" and Campbell's guitar solos and acoustic playing on unplugged live sets - often transforming Rock songs that are ingrained in your memories into a new Americana version that touches and even equals the more flashy original.

There is also the added bonus of Stevie Nicks on the Demo Version of “The Apartment Song”, the album cut "You Can Change Your Mind" and a live version of "Insider" - whilst Byrds founder and frontman Roger McGuinn adds his dulcet tones to an early take of "King Of The Hill". Hell even Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets his June 1981 moment of fame as he introduces the band at The Forum, Inglewood in California and promptly sparks off an ovation that apparently took 10 minutes to quell. If I had a complaint it would be that the quality somehow strangely dips on the 90s Disc and its disappointing that there isn't more insider-recordings from his 80ts masterpiece "Full Moon Fever" – but these are minor quibbles.

Reading the BUD SCOPPA liner notes and hearing Campbell and friends literally get choked up as their reminiscences of the songs and their circumstances come to mind is both moving and just a little heart-breaking. In short - this one is personal - and the love felt for TP and his songwriting craft is very real.

I miss him, his band and their music. "An American Treasure" is beautiful and then some - and surely the Deluxe Edition 4CD variant will be up for a 2018 'Reissue of the Year' gong. Way to go friends and family...job done and more than a nod to his life and musical legacy...

PS: the Deluxe Edition book packaging is superbly laid out too and classy with a capitol C. Released Friday, 28 September 2018, there is also a 26-Track cheaper 2CD truncated version on Reprise 572284-2 (Barcode 093624905547) and a 6LP vinyl set available in late November 2018...

"What’s That Sound? Complete Albums Collection" by BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD (June 2018 Atco/Rhino 5CD Box Set of 2017 Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 364 More Like It

Are Available In My E-Book 

 

GIMME SHELTER!

CLASSIC 1960s ROCK ON CD 

And Other Genres Thereabouts 

 

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional Reissues and Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs 

No Need To Be Nervous!

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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"...A Field Day..."

The July 2001 "Buffalo Springfield Box Set" (reissued October 2013 in smaller packaging but with the same 88-song compliment – see separate review) seemed at the HDCD time to be the last word on this iconic 60ts American band – a four-disc behemoth with the guts of all three albums and wads of previously unreleased – even offering an Alternate Version of that notorious 1966 first album rarity "Baby Don't Scold Me".

But that was 16 years ago and the latest remastering skills has prompted another go round with Neil Young (who oversaw these transfers) now saying that these 2017 John Hanlon/Chris Bellman versions are the best yet and offer long-suffering fans far superior audio to anything that has gone before (and there's a Vinyl version too). And on the evidence of what I'm hearing here – Canada's most stately curmudgeon is right yet again because nowadays you really 'can hear Clancy sing'. There's a ton of detail to wade through, so here goes into the hour of not-quite-rain...

UK released 28 June 2018 (29 June 2018 in the USA) - "What’s That Sound? Complete Albums Collection" by BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD on Atco/Rhino R2 566970 (Barcode 603497860678) is a 5CD Box Set of 2017 Remasters in Mini LP Repro Artwork that plays outs as follows:

CD1 - "Buffalo Springfield" Mono

Originally US issued December 1966 Debut Album on Atco 33-200 (Tracks 1 to 12, see Notes)

2017 Remastered 13-Track Version (see Notes) on Rhino R2 33200M (36:02 minutes)

Side 1:

1. Go And Say Goodbye [Stephen Stills song]

2. Sit Down I Think I Love You [Stephen Stills song]

3. Leave [Stephen Stills song]

4. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing [Neil Young song]

5. Hot Dusty Roads [Stephen Stills song]

6. Everybody's Wrong [Stephen Stills song]

Side 2:

7. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong  [Neil Young song]

8. Burned [Neil Young song]

9. Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It [Neil Young song]

10. Baby Don’t Scold Me [Stephen Stills song]

11. Out Of My Mind [Neil Young song]

12. Pay The Price [Stephen Stills song]

13. For What It’s Worth

CD2 "Buffalo Springfield" Stereo

Stereo Remix Version of the Debut Album originally US issued March 1967 on Atco SD 33-200A

2017 Remaster on Rhino R2 33200 (32:59 minutes):

Side 1:

1. For What It’s Worth [Stephen Stills song]

2. Go And Say Goodbye [Stephen Stills song]

3. Sit Down I Think I Love You [Stephen Stills song]

4. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing [Neil Young song]

5. Hot Dusty Roads [Stephen Stills song]

6. Everybody's Wrong [Stephen Stills song]

Side 2:

7. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong  [Neil Young song]

8. Burned [Neil Young song]

9. Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It [Neil Young song]

10. Leave [Stephen Stills song]

11. Out Of My Mind [Neil Young song]

12. Pay The Price [Stephen Stills song]

NOTES ON THE DEBUT: Buffalo Springfield's self-titled debut album has a tangled history on both vinyl and now CD too – so here goes. Originally released 6 December 1966 on Atco 33-200 in Mono and Atco SD 33-200 in Stereo – the first version had 12 songs – six to each side as per Tracks 1 to 12 above on CD1. However, recorded the day the LP was released (6 December 1966) and then issued for the Christmas market 23 December 1966 on Atco 45-6459 with "Do I Have To Come" as the flipside - the band's most famous song "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" changed everything for the group. With accumulating radio play -18 February 1967 saw the anti-war song enter the US Billboard singles chart and slowly became a huge commercial and political hit – eventually peaking at No. 7 and staying on the American hit parade for almost three months. Such was the power of the song and its identity with Buffalo Springfield – Atco decided to reissue the debut album with that song given prominence (Track 1 on Side 1). "Baby Don't Scold Me" from the December 1966 version was dropped from the new 21 March 1967 Mono and Stereo mixes and the track-run altered also. The album was remixed by the band into MONO and re-released as Atco 33-200A (Mono) and Atco SD 33-200A (Stereo). The second (and band preferred) 12-track version has been used ever since.

Now there's a third variant here in this June 2018 Five-Disc Box Set - the song "For What It’s Worth" added on at the end of Side 2 as a 13th track for completion purposes. There has never been a 13-track "Buffalo Springfield" album until now - so that configuration is exclusive to this Box Set which is also available as a American VINYL variant on Atco/Rhino R1 566970 (Barcode 603497860661) issued 29 June 2018 as a limited edition of 5000 copies.

However, if you want to configure the March 1967 12-Track Mono version from CD1 use the following tracks:

Side 1: Tracks 13, 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6

Side 2: Tracks 7, 8, 9, 3, 11 and 12

Eagle-eyed fans will notice that the STEREO version of "Baby Don’t Scold Me" included on the original December 1966 LP but not on the March 1967 reissue is NOT on CD2 as a Stereo Bonus. It’s never been issued in true Stereo anywhere in the world on any CD and the reason still remains something of a mystery that not even this new box set clears up (this also makes the secondary title 'Complete Albums Collection' inaccurate).

CD3 "Buffalo Springfield Again" Mono

Second Album originally US issued October 1967 on Atco 33-226

2017 Remaster on Atco/Rhino R2 33226M (33:58 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Mr. Soul [Neil Young song]

2. A Child's Claim To Fame [Richie Furay song]

3. Everydays [Stephen Stills song]

4. Expecting To Fly [Neil Young song]

5. Bluebird [Stephen Stills song]

Side 2:

6. Hung Upside Down [Stephen Stills song]

7. Sad Memory [Richie Furay song]

8. Good Time Boy [Richie Furay song]

9. Rock & Roll Woman [Stephen Stills song]

10. Broken Arrow [Neil Young Song]

CD4 - CD3 "Buffalo Springfield Again" Stereo

Second Album originally US issued October 1967 on Atco SD 33-226

2017 Remaster on Atco/Rhino R2 33226 (34:01 minutes):

Same Tracks as CD3

CD5 - "Last Time Around" Stereo

Third and Final Studio Album US released July 1968 on Atco SD 33-256 in Stereo Only

2017 CD Remaster on Rhino R2 33256 (33:39 minutes)

Side 1:

1. On The Way Home [Neil Young song]

2. It's So Hard To Wait [Richie Furay and Neil Young song]

3. Pretty Girl Why [Stephen Stills song]

4. Four Days Gone [Stephen Stills song]

5. Carefree Country Day [Jim Messina song]

6. Special Care [Stephen Stills song]

Side 2:

7. The Hour Of Not Quite Rain [Richie Furay/Micki Callen song]

8. Questions [Stephen Stills song]

9. I Am A Child [Neil Young song]

10. Merry-Go-Round [Richie Furay song]

11. Uno Mundo [Stephen Stills song]

12. Kind Woman [Richie Furay song]

AUDIO:

Re-mastered by JOHN HANLON in 2017 (with Neil Young) and then Mastered by CHRIS BELLMAN at Bernie Grundman Mastering - these new versions are amazing in terms of fidelity. You'd have to say that the bulk of the work appears to have been on the first two albums in MONO - but I'm a fan of that last patchy album and these new STEREO mixes are rocking my 'Carefree Country Day' with a vengeance.

OK, you can and should argue that the missing "Baby Don't Scold Me" track in Stereo is yet another disappointing AWOL scenario - but I like the five separate discs forcing me the listener to take the album's as they were (are). It's admittedly a tad odd to hear "For What It's Worth..." at the tail-end of the "Buffalo Springfield" debut instead of as Track 1, Side 1 like we've been used to all these decades down the line. But 13-track-version or no - the AUDIO is so damn clear and alive.

The Stereo mix for "Sit Down I Think I Love You" has brighter guitar and the combo vocals sound glorious - the Salsa shuffle rhythm section and Stills vocals of "Pretty Girl Why" is superb too on the 3rd LP and the wall of fuzzed guitars that is "Bluebird" is almost too much (what a tune). That Phil Spector epic feel to Young's "Expecting To Fly" where the drums and strings seem like they're in a very far away cathedral now has a tighter hold - beautiful song beautifully transferred. The acoustic guitar on Furay's gorgeous "Sad Memory" is intimate as is his Fred Neil vocals. The opening cut "On My Way Home" from the 3rd LP was missing from the 2001 remasters - so it's cool to have an upgraded version of that too.

Do I miss the stunning long-version of "Bluebird" from 1973 double-album retrospective - or the Take 1 Demo of "Baby Don't Scold Me" that appeared on Disc 1 of the 2001 "Box Set" 4CD retrospective - hell yes. Can't help thinking that a sixth CD gathering up album outtakes might have been nice ("Neighbor Don't You Worry") - but that would I suppose have diluted the purity of the albums as presented.

The single card inlay with Neil Young liner notes repeating his 'this version is superior to any pre-existing version' five times in a row (for each LP) is almost childish in its laziness. But despite niggles - it's all about the MUSIC and the AUDIO - and the makers of "What's That Sound?" have nailed it. True believers will need both "Box Set" and this - newbies should dive in and learn what all the fuss was about.

"...There's something happening here..." - Stephen Stills sang on the monumental "For What It's Worth..." - vocalising what was on young people's minds in the mid 60ts. 

They carried a sign for this one and so should you...