A WHOLE LOTTA SHAKY

Shakin' Stevens was the UK's biggest selling singles artist of the 1980s with over thirty Top 40 hit singles, four chart-toppers, a string of successful albums and sell out tours across the UK and Europe. However, it wasn't an overnight success.

His recording and performing career had started in the late-1960's when, having changed his name from Michael Barratt, he fronted the rock 'n' roll band Shakin' Stevens and The Sunsets. They gained a recording contract with Parlophone Records and released the album A Legend, produced by Dave Edmunds who would go on to play a part in his later career. They toured night after night across the length and breadth of the UK but didn't achieve the success they deserved. However, in Europe they had several hits and were also a regular on the concert circuit.

In 1977, following the death of Elvis Presley, Jack Good was holding auditions for his West End musical Elvis! He had seen the Sunsets at a gig in London and asked Shaky, as he was often called at this time, to audition for the middle-period Elvis. Good was so impressed and offered him the role. A cast album was released featuring many of his songs from the show including King Creole, Dixieland Rock, Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do and Tupelo Mississipi Flash. The show ran for six-months during which time The Sunsets were expecting him to return but his career was set to take him on a more successful path.

Following the closing of the musical, Jack Good revived the Oh Boy! show and Shaky was a regular on this and the follow-up show, Let's Rock, which ran for thirty weeks and was broadcast here and in the USA.

During this period, pre- and post- Elvis!, Shaky had the chance to record material with Charlie Gillett and Mike Hurst for Track Records. Several singles were released including Somebody Touched Me, Never, Spooky and Treat Her Right. He then teamed up with two new producers, Mike Shaw and John Fenton and recorded an album, Shakin' Stevens, released in 1978 and which featured sax player Alan Holmes from the legendary band Sounds Incorporated. Unfortunately Track Records closed down soon after but his future was assured and he was signed up by Epic Records, who released some of his recently recorded material. Several unreleased recordings and rarities from this period found a release on an album titled The Track Years, released in 1983 after he had hit the big time.

This led to his first chart success with a re-worked cover of Hot Dog, a song originally recorded by Buck Owens and a career move that would make him one of the most successful recording and touring artists of the 1980s. He signed a management deal with Freya Miller in 1979 and she suggested he end his association with The Sunsets and pursue a solo career.

Hot Dog, and the follow-up Hey Mae, were successful and a sign of what was to come but his career really took off with the release of the single Marie, Marie and in concert he would often credit the song as... "the one which kicked it all off for me."

His first number one was another re-working of an old song, This Ole House, originally recorded by Rosemary Clooney. He followed with a run of top ten hits including three more that reached the top spot... Green Door, Oh Julie and Merry Christmas Everyone. 

He was a regular on TV shows including Top Of The Pops, toured every year to sell-out audiences across the UK and Europe and released hit after hit including You Drive Me Crazy, Give Me Your Heart Tonight, A Love Worth Waiting For, Teardrops, Breaking Up My Heart, Cry Just A Little Bit and A Letter To You. It wasn't only the singles that charted and he placed several albums on the chart including Marie Marie (later renamed This Ole House to capitalise on the success of the single), Shaky (which reached number one), The Bob Won't Stop, Lipstick, Powder And Paint and A Whole Lotta Shaky.

By the 1990s success started to slip away and although still a big draw on the concert circuit his records failed to make much impression on the charts. His highest placed single from this period was another festive offering, The Best Christmas Of Them All which only just scraped into the top twenty. He only released two albums in the nineties, There Are Two Kinds Of Music... Rock 'N' Roll and Merry Christmas Everyone.

It would be sixteen years before he would release a new album, Now Listen, and a further nine years before his most recent studio album, the excellent Echoes Of Our Times, an album based on research into his family history and a complete departure from his rock and roll days. It became his first chart album to reach the top thirty in over three decades.

With the advent of CD, and despite all the hit singles and albums, Shaky's back-catalogue was largely ignored by the record companies and it was several years before his material started appearing on CD and even then it was mainly hit compilations like The Epic Years, The Hits Of..., The Collection and Red Hot And Rockin'. This changed in 2009 with the release of the 10-CD and digital download, The Epic Masters which included all his albums, except Merry Christmas Everyone. I could never understand why it was omitted but maybe the fact it had already been released on CD was the reason it wasn't included. Each CD featured bonus tracks and there was a CD of 12" extended mixes. However, this still left plenty of material unavailable on CD.

This brings us to the release of what is without doubt the definitive Shakin' Stevens release... Fire In The Blood.

The set contains 19 CDs with 266 tracks, many making their first appearance on CD and many more rare and unreleased tracks.

The set includes all his studio albums from Shakin' Stevens to Echoes Of Our Times. What I really like about this new release is the fact that the albums are presented as the originals with no bonus tracks. 

With the exception of some 'live' b-sides, Shaky never released a live album and this new set gives us two. First up is a recording from The Paris Theatre in London first broadcast on Radio in 1980. Highlights from this show include Don't Bug Me Baby, Don't Knock Upon My Door, A Big Hunk Of Love and Marie, Marie. I actually recorded this off the radio at the time and still have the cassette.  The second is a recording from his 2019 tour of Europe and the UK which features many of the tracks from his current album, Echoes Of Our Times, along with several earlier hits. Both are welcome additions to this impressive collection.

But wait, there is more. Four discs of live, rare and previously unreleased tracks, most of which are making their first appearance on CD. Many of his singles were never included on albums and these are also present on these discs. Along with the extended versions, remixes, acoustic versions, b-sides and live tracks are two previously unreleased songs, I Need You Now and Wild At Heart.

The music is matched by the deluxe packaging. Presented in a bound 12" x 12" illustrated hard-backed book with an essay by Paul Sexton it also includes a reproduction promo poster, the Oh Julie sheet music, a 36-page tour brochure, art prints and an autograph book signed by Shakin' Stevens. An impressive package which, with a retail price of under £100, has to be one of the best 'value-for-money' career retrospectives I've ever seen.

I have followed Shaky's career since 1977 when I first saw him in the Elvis! musical and went twice more before its run ended. I bought every single and album and have seen him in concert more than a dozen times. I was also fortunate to have worked for him on a number of archive related projects covering his recording and touring career. This new set is a reminder of those great singles, albums and concerts and is worth every penny. Pick up a copy while you can as I am sure it will soon become a collectors item and end up being offered for crazy prices on various online sites.

There is 'A Whole Lotta Shaky' for your money.

JOHNNY CASH THE OUTTAKES

Having already released The Everly Brothers The Outtakes and Janis Martin The Outtakes which, as the titles suggest, contained outtakes and false starts, in early 2007 Bear Family Records turned their attention to Johnny Cash with a three-CD set of outtakes, false starts and studio chat from the Sun Records period. I was fortunate to have been approached to compile the set and write the liner-notes. In this article I will look back at the work that was involved in putting the set together. 

Towards the end of 2006 I was approached by Richard Weize, owner of Bear Family Family, who asked if I would be interested in putting together the set and, of course, I agreed.

My first task was to work out which outtakes had already been issued on the Man In Black 1954-1958 and other releases and compile a spreadsheet detailing where these could be found. I then received nine CDs with various outtakes, false starts and studio chat that also contained some material that had been out before. Unfortunately there were many Sun tracks for which no alternates have survived although what was there made interesting listening.

With a release date set for late-February 2007 I was working to a tight deadline and had to supply a final track listing by the beginning of January. I copied all the material onto the computer as it would be easier to stop and start songs or pick out particular passages than would have been possible on a standard CD player. There were several problems I encountered during the initial stages, not least of which was the lack of information regarding the different versions. Sam Phillips was notoriously bad at keeping records and with no written notes or take numbers to go by it was a case of going through each and every track listening for differences. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that many of the outtakes sounded so similar.

It took several weeks before I had the final track listing finalised which I then compiled on a spreadsheet and forwarded it to the record company. It would be a while before I received the remastered tracks to approve and in the meantime I made a start on the liner-notes.

Rather than writing a track-by-track guide I chose to write an overview of Cash's career at Sun Records while picking out those tracks that were noticeably different and deserved a more detailed description. By the end of January the liner-notes were completed and sent off to the designers to start work on the artwork and booklet.

In due course CD-R copies of the remastered tracks arrived and needed to be checked. I listened to all three CDs comparing them to my list to ensure the right versions had been used and compiled in the correct running order. Fortunately, with only a few minor exceptions which would be corrected before release, everything was fine. I was really impressed with the sound quality which to my ears had never sounded so good.

My next job was to check and approve the artwork and booklet which all looked fine except for the odd typo and layout error. I confirmed this and waited while production of the set took place.

I was impressed with the final product. The three CDs, which were made to look like reels of tape, were housed in individual sleeves with the track listings detailed on the back. The 100 page booklet included my comprehensive liner notes, recording session details, period photos and, as a bonus, a wealth of previously unseen photos of Cash and good friend Johnny Horton on a fishing trip. These were not from the period but were a welcome addition. All this was housed in a reproduction tape-box which looked very classy.

The set featured 111 tracks, presented in chronological order, with over 50 previously unreleased. The listener was able to hear work in progress and the subtle differences between each take as the songs developed in the studio. You would hear Cash fluff a lyric or guitarist Luther Perkins miss a note meaning another take was required. Many of the songs were recorded in two or three takes but a few required many more before a finished master was sucessfully 'in the can.' Among these were the eight takes of Don't Make Me Go and the eleven takes of Always Alone.

Among the fifty previously unreleased tracks were multiple takes of songs including Folsom Prison Blues, Don't Make Me Go, Katy Too, Get Rhythm, Always Alone, Thanks A Lot, I Just Thought You'd Like To Know and It's Just About Time.

I don't need to say how proud I am of this set. I've worked on many Johnny Cash projects over the years and this ranks high on the list.

'Whether it's the thrill of hearing a previously unknown lyric, a slightly different instrumental sound or eavesdropping on a vocal or guitar fluff, this collection offers the most penetrating look beyond the famous master recordings made by a man who has become a towering figure in American music.' - Bear Family Records Press Release

FROM ELVIS IN NASHVILLE

By June 1970 Elvis was riding high and achieving the critical acclaim he had not received since the early 1960s. Following the 1968 Elvis TV Special he had returned to Memphis in 1969 and for the first time recorded at the famous American Sound Studios under the guidance of Chips Moman and backed by the legendary 827 Thomas Street Band. August of that year saw him back in front of a live audience for the first time in almost nine years during a month long, sold-out engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He returned for another run of sold-out shows in February 1970 and contracts had been agreed for him to return in August, and it would be filmed and recorded for a new documentary and album.

The material he had recorded in Memphis turned his career around. The album From Elvis In Memphis was a major success as were the singles released at the time... In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy and Kentucky Rain. Everyone expected him to return to Memphis for his next planned sessions but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Several reasons have been given, among them issues over publishing rights. 

Elvis was due to provide enough material for a new album and two singles as per his agreement with RCA Records. Felton Jarvis had booked a series of sessions at RCA's Studio B in Nashville starting on the night of 4 June 1970. Elvis hadn't recorded in Nashville for almost thirty-months and a new crop of stellar session musicians would be present for this run of sessions including James Burton (guitar), Chip Young (guitar), Norbert Putnam (bass) Jerry Carrigan (drums) and David Briggs (piano). Talking about the musicians James Burton said, "These are incredible players. These guys are the A-team." 

Overdub sessions held between June and October would see the addition of various instruments along with backing vocals provided by, among others, The Jordanaires, The Imperials, Millie Kirkham, Mary & Ginger Holladay and Temple Riser.

Elvis arriving at RCA Studio B (4 June 1970)

On the evening of 4 June Elvis arrived at the RCA Studios for the first night of recordings each of which would run from 6pm till 4.30 am the following day. The sessions went well, were productive and Elvis was in a great mood. Over the next five nights Elvis recorded more than thirty tracks, enough for at least two albums and a few singles. After a couple of nights it became clear that a lot of the material being considered and recorded was in the country vein and so it continued over the next few nights.

A further session was held on 22 September as two further cuts were needed for the planned country album. Eddie Hinton replaced James Burton at this session and Jerry Carrigan recalled that Hinton was, "really scared to death."  Unfortunately Elvis' mood was totally different from June. After recording the two tracks required and a stab at two further songs he left the studio.

The first material to be released from the sessions were on two singles released in July and October, I've Lost You/The Next Step Is Love and You Don't Have To Say You Love Me/Patch It Up, both top twenty singles.

As mentioned earlier Elvis' third Las Vegas Engagement was captured on film and released as That's The Way It Is. The soundtrack, released in November, featured four live recordings and eight songs from the June sessions including Twenty Days And Twenty Nights, Mary In The Morning, Just Pretend and Stranger In The Crowd.

A third single, I Really Don't Want To Know/There Goes My Everything, was followed in January 1971 with one of Elvis' best albums, Elvis Country. Often considered his first (and only) concept album it was a collection of new and old country songs which was held together by the song I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago of which a short segment appeared between each song. The album included strong performances of country classics like Make The World Go Away, Snowbird, I Really Don't Want To Know and Little Cabin On The Hill along with less well-known songs including I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water, It's Your Baby, You Rock It and Tomorrow Never Comes. It even included a cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, although it never comes close to Lewis' version. I Was Born... would eventually be released in complete form on the 1971 album Elvis Now. 

Love Letters, released in June 1971, could not capitalise on the success of That's The Way It Is or Elvis Country and was considered an album of leftovers from the June sessions and its low chart placing reflected this. Whereas the country album had featured an excellent cover design the new album started the trend of using live images on the covers of studio albums and in no way represented the material featured. Despite having some strong tracks like Got My Mojo Working, Cindy, Cindy and a re-recording of Love Letters there were too many weak songs like Only Believe, Heart Of Rome and This Is Our Dance.

Further singles were released featuring material from both the June and September sessions but none achieved much success on the charts.

Alternate versions and outtakes from the sessions started to appear officially in the mid-1990s with releases like Walk A Mile In My Shoes-The Essential 70's Masters and A Hundred Years from Now-Essential Elvis Volume 4 offering previously unreleased material. There were two tracks that had never seen the light of day in any form,  A Hundred Years From Now and the instrumental jam I Didn't Make It On Playing Guitar. On the latter Elvis can occasionally be heard encouraging the band and towards the end starts singing along, albeit just the title over and over again.

Fans were treated to more with the introduction of the Follow That Dream collectors label. First up was The Nashville Marathon with a whole disc of unreleased material. This was followed in the years that followed with 2-CD editions of That's The Way It Is, Elvis Country and Love Letters in the FTD labels 'Classic Album' series. These all featured a wealth of alternate takes.

The latest release to feature material from this period is From Elvis In Nashville, a 4-CD set presented in a slipcase with a booklet. All the tracks have been completely remixed and remastered by Matt Ross-Spang from the original session tapes. While the set only features a handful of unreleased takes, bringing together the album tracks and a selection of unreleased material lifted from the FTD releases, it does have one important selling point. For the first time many of the album masters are presented in their original undubbed and/or unedited form, and it makes for an enjoyable listening experience. 

CDs 1 & 2 in the set feature the undubbed/unedited masters and there are many making their first appearance in this form. Among these are I've Lost You, The Sound Of Your Cry, Little Cabin On The Hill, It's Your Baby, You Rock It, Just Pretend and Snowbird. There are so many highlights and too many to mention here but of note are the full version of I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago, the complete Got My Mojo Working/Keep Your Hands Off Of It, Stranger In The Crowd and the beautiful Mary In The Morning. One of three jams on the set opens CD 1 and it is a good way to lead into these historic sessions.

The other two CDs feature a selection of the alternate takes, all but a few previously released, but a nice addition to the set. There are great alternate takes of Patch It Up, Stranger In The Crowd, the country version of Faded Love, Little Cabin Home On The Hill and It's Your Baby, You Rock It. There are unreleased takes of Tomorrow Never Comes, The Next Step Is Love and Stranger In The Crowd but these are false starts or breakdown early. However, the two unreleased takes of Stranger In The Crowd were actually included on the That's The Way It Is classic album but were not listed on the sleeve or booklet.

From a personal point of view I could live without outtakes of Only Believe, This Is Our Dance or Life. The latter took twenty takes and during one of the final attempts Elvis remarked, "god-damn thing is as long as life, man." Unfortunately that is not included here. It has to be remembered this is a mainstream release and not aimed at just the collectors who bought the FTD releases and so the inclusion of this material is justified.

Packaging is important to me and this set doesn't disappoint. Presented in an 8x8 slipcase with a great image of Elvis and the band superimposed on a sepia-toned picture of the outside of Studio B. I have heard many complaints that the main pic was also used on the Nashville Marathon set but I have never seen any other images of Elvis in the studio during these sessions so they made the right choice. The four CDs are housed in an eight-panel wallet with images of tape boxes and the RCA building. The 28-page booklet includes notes on each day of recording by Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, comprehensive notes by David Cantwell, track details with recording and release information, quotes from those taking part in the sessions and a stunning selection of photos, record sleeves, press ads and other related memorabilia.

These sessions produced some of his best material to come out of the 1970s and this set, despite my reservations about a few of the songs, gives the listener an insight into the quality and musicianship of all involved. These tracks have never sounded better and credit to Matt Ross-Spang who has done a sterling job on the remastering. A great addition to the collection. 

I'll leave the last word on these sessions to David Briggs... "It was more special working with him than anybody else."

With thanks to David Cox (LD Communications)

JOHNNY CASH - THE MERCURY ALBUMS

After almost thirty years Columbia/CBS decided that they were not going to renew Johnny Cash's contract. The decision angered many people including Dwight Yoakam who said at the time, "The man's been there thirty fucking years making them money."

Fortunately for him there was a label prepared to sign him and it was Steve Popovich that brought him to Mercury Records. "I really believe in you, " Popovich told Cash during a meeting at The House of Cash. "Our company believes in you. We feel, with the right record that we can help support what you're trying to do here and get some strong records, some hit records." Cash signed with the label in 1986.

Despite releasing strong albums which it has been reported sold little over 200,00 copies in total, it soon became clear that the label were more interested in pandering to the younger artists in their cowboy hats and boots who could be seen everyday on Country Music Television.

Cash commented at the time, "I would get excited about my recording projects but nobody would share that, and I kept hearing demographics until it was coming out of my ears." Major commercial success was around the corner though with the unlikely pairing of Cash and Rick Rubin. More of which another time.

Over the years Cash's Mercury Records output has been repackaged many times. As well as straight re-issues of the albums there have been countless compilations with titles including Johnny Cash & Friends, All American Country and Wanted Man.

Now, for the first time, all five original albums have been released in a box set, The Complete Mercury Albums 1986-1991, with additional unreleased material.

The first album in the set is Class of '55 which wasn't actually released on the Mercury Label. On its release in 1986 it was issued on Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury, hence it's inclusion here. Recorded before he signed with Mercury the album featured Cash along with old Sun stablemates Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison and was recorded at Sun Studio and American Sound. The album was produced by Chips Moman, who had worked with Cash on the first two Highwaymen albums and his final solo CBS release, Rainbow. Backing the four artists were members of Cash's and Jerry Lee Lewis' bands along with some of the finest Memphis session men. Opening with Birth Of Rock And Roll, performed and written by Carl Perkins the artists sing solo and collectively on a selection of old and new material. Cash sings lead vocals on two numbers, I Will Rock And Roll With You, a song he originally recorded for his Gone Girl album, and We Remember The King, a tribute to Elvis Presley. Other highlights include Sixteen Candles, Keep My Motor Running and Coming Home, the latter featuring a haunting vocal by Roy Orbison. The album ends with the nearly eight-minute homage to Memphis, John Fogerty's Big Train (From Memphis) on which the four artists are joined by an all-star cast including Jack Clement, John Fogerty, Dave Edmunds, Sam Phillips, Chips Moman, Rick Nelson and many more. Like many collaborations featuring major stars the results are often disappointing and although this album is patchy in places it is an enjoyable journey back to the past. 

Cash's first official Mercury release was Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town, released in 1987 and produced by Jack Clement. The album opens with The Big Light, composed by Elvis Costello it is a song that is performed well by Cash. Two Cash originals are included, The Ballad Of Barbara, recorded twice before by Cash in 1973 and 1977, and I'd Rather Have You. He turns to the Guy Clark songbook for Let Him Roll and the strangely titled Heavy Metal (Don't Mean Rock And Roll To Me) while Sixteen Tons was written and originally recorded by Merle Travis. Inspired by the western swing band that Cash had listened to on the radio in his younger days James Talley's W. Lee O'Daniel (And The Light Crust Doughboys) is given an excellent performance by Cash. Good friend and fellow Highwayman Waylon Jennings joins Cash for the excellent The Night Hank Williams Comes To Town, one of the albums standout tracks. Cash was pleased to be working with Clement again although not everybody was as impressed with the albums production. Band member Marty Stuart felt it was 'cluttered' and urged Cash to get back to basics, even offering to produce stripped down versions. Cash and Clement's friendship and working relationship went back to the 1950s and his time at Sun and his loyalty prevailed... Clement's production won. A strong debut release.

Water From The Wells Of Home is the third album in the set and is my least favourite of his Mercury releases. I don't mind duets and guest appearances but on it's release I found many of the songs just didn't work for me and time hasn't changed my opinion. That is not to say there are not good songs on the album. Featuring Rosanne Cash and The Everly Brothers, the opening track, Ballad Of A Teenage Queen, is one of the best performances. Other strong tracks are Where Did We Go Right with June Carter-Cash and The Carter Family, A Croft In Clachan (The Ballad Of Rob MacDunn), a duet with Glen Campbell and I did enjoy New Moon Over Jamaica with the additional vocals from Paul McCartney. However I can live without John Carter's vocals on Call Me The Breeze and the title track while the remaining tracks I rarely play. This CD does feature two bonus tracks, alternate mixes of Ballad Of A Teenage Queen and That Old Wheel.

Classic Cash found Cash revisiting his past hits with twenty re-recordings of some of his greatest tracks. A strange decision but he certainly wasn't the only artist to re-record their hits. Neil Sedaka's Timeless album worked well, but although I like this album, it does suffer from over production and too many modern techniques. There was no way it was going to better the original recordings but it does include some good performances including Get Rhythm, Blue Train, The Ways Of A Woman In Love, I Got Stripes and Tennessee Flat Top Box. With his road band backing him on the album many of the songs are a reminder of what it was like to see Cash in concert at this stage of his career. An interesting release but although well performed by Cash none will ever replace or improve on the originals. 

Produced by Bob Moore, bass player from the famed Nashville 'A' Team, Boom Chicka Boom sees a return to the classic Cash sound and is my favourite of his Mercury albums. Opening with a Cash original, the lighthearted A Backstage Pass, which tells the story of being backstage at a Willie Nelson concert. It is very reminiscent of Cash's earlier comic recordings. Cash covers Harry Chapin's composition Cat's In The Cradle, sings about the dangers of pollution in Don't Go Near The Water, previously recorded for his 1974 Any Old Wind That Blows album, and turns to another Elvis Costello song Hidden Shame, which interestingly Costello didn't release himself until 2009. Family Bible features Cash's mother Carrie on its familiar tale of home. My two personal favourites are the romantic I Love You, Love You and the philosophical That's One You Owe Me which closes the original album. There are an additional seven tracks on this CD. Veteran's Day was the b-side of the The Mystery Of Life, I Shall Be Free featured as the b-side on Farmers Almanac while I Draw The Line is a previously unreleased Cash original. Also included are early versions of A Backstage Pass, Harley, That's One You Owe Me and Veteran's Day. All welcome additions to the set.

Cash's final Mercury album was Mystery Of Life which, once again, found Cash revisiting earlier material. This time he turns his attention to his first Sun release, Hey Porter, and the Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash composition Wanted Man, previously recorded by Cash on his San Quentin live prison album in 1969 and also during the legendary Cash/Dylan sessions which I wrote about in an earlier blog. A few of the tracks that make up the album date back to his first sessions for the label and at the time were deemed unsuitable for release on his debut album. The album doesn't suffer though as there are some very strong songs. Opening with the first of five original Cash compositions, The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All, sets the tone for the rest of the album. Highlights include John Prine's The Hobo Song, the title track written by Joe Nixon and three more Cash originals, I'm An Easy Rider, the humorous Beans For Breakfast and Angel And The Badman. Performed as a duet with the songs composer, Tom T. Hall, I'll Go Somewhere And Sing My Songs Again, is a personal favourite and would be prophetic considering what was around the corner. The album closes with a bonus track, the rare Faraway, So Close soundtrack version of The Wanderer. A great performance by Cash although I personally can't stand Bono or U2, fortunately the song is mainly Cash.

The Mystery Of Life didn't fair any better than than the previous releases neither did the singles which must have been a disappointment to Cash. Every one of his Mercury albums featured some strong performances and deserved to do much better on the charts. Unfortunately this signaled the end of his short career with Mercury Records. However, his career was set to reach new heights a few years later.

This leaves just one album on this new set to discuss, Classic Cash Early Mixes. These are certainly an improvement over the original release. The mixes are less cluttered and more basic. Out of the two I return to this album when wanting to play these tracks. The liner notes state that the Early Mixes set features two more songs, The Ways Of A Woman In Love and Home Of The Blues, which didn't make it to the original album. This is incorrect as both songs do appear on the original Classic Cash release. Not sure why they are presented in a different order to the original either, not that this detracts from the enjoyment. This album does not appear on the vinyl copy of the set as it was released separately for Record Store Day. 

Newly remastered from the original tapes by Kevin Reeves at UMG Studios in Nashville the sound is excellent on all the tracks. My only criticism about the set is the lack of unreleased material. Yes, we have a few unreleased alternate mixes, alternate versions and an unreleased track along with the early mixes of the Classic Cash album but there was room on each of the CDs to include a few extra unreleased songs. John L. Smith's excellent series of discographies lists several songs from this period that could have been included. OK, many may have been unsuitable for release but surely there is more than just the one unreleased track lying in the vault. I would love to hear Cash's studio recording of John Prine's Sam Stone, a song Cash performed live at Austin City. This was the ideal chance to make them available. An opportunity missed.

Packaging is important to me and this set doesn't disappoint. Each CD is presented in a reproduction sleeve, there is a 44-page booklet with comprehensive liner notes written by Scott Schinder, original album notes, track details, period photos and all housed in a sturdy box with a great image of Cash on the front.

Despite my reservations about some of the songs he recorded during this period The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 is a worthwhile release and it is good to have all the albums in one package.

IS IT ROLLING, BOB?

By late-1965 Bob Dylan was riding high with two successful albums, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, completed a successful British tour, was filmed for the movie Don’t Look Back and made his third appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. It was 25 July at Newport and earlier in the day he played an acoustic set but later played an electric set and a small section of the audience booed and jeered. Reports stated it was the whole audience, but this was not the case and many believe it was more likely a reaction to his short set of only five songs. However, the reaction to this new sound would rear its ugly head again when he toured the United Kingdom the following year.

Dylan was undertaking a six-month world tour with his new electric band, The Hawks, and taking time in between to make his first visit to Nashville to record tracks for a new album, Blonde On Blonde, released in May 1966. The same month found Dylan back on British soil for a tour that would see him suffering more negative reaction to his new sound which would come to a head at The Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 17 May. Many of the folk purists felt he had deserted them and at Manchester one fan decided to express his disgust just before Dylan’s last song… he shouted one word, ‘Judas!’

Back on home soil Dylan fled to Woodstock for time out despite being in demand for press interviews and a new tour. What happened next is shrouded in mystery and caused the rumour mill to go into overdrive. On 29 July 1966 Dylan was involved on a motorcycle accident and various causes were given including oil on the road and the sun in his eyes. Whatever the reason it put an end to plans for a new tour and Dylan retreated further and spent time with his young family.

Although he would not tour again until 1974 Dylan did spend time with The Band at Big Pink, a communal house in West Saugerties, New York. Between April and October 1967 they recorded over 100 songs, just demos, but released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes.

Dylan was also working on the lyrics for a new album which, throughout October and November, would find him back in Nashville recording tracks for what would become the John Wesley Harding album, released the following month. The album found Dylan backed by some of the Nashville elite, Charlie McCoy on bass along with Kenny Buttery on drums and Pete Drake on steel guitar. Produced by Bob Johnston, who at the time was also producing Johnny Cash, John Wesley Harding was a return to his folk style and well received by fans and critics alike.

Dylan returned to Nashville in January 1969 with Bob Johnston producing and supported by some of Nashville’s best – Norman Blake and Charlie Daniels on guitar, Charlie McCoy on bass, Pete Drake playing steel guitar, on the drums was Kenny Buttery and Bob Wilson on piano. Over two days they recorded nine tracks, including one instrumental, which would be released in April as Nashville Skyline. Another track, recorded a few days later, would also make the final cut. The country feel built on the rustic style created on the previous album with its simple structure and basic lyrical themes. Despite the change of direction the album was well received by the critics with Rolling Stone writing, “Nashville Skyline achieves the artistically impossible: a deep, humane, and interesting statement about being happy. It could well be…his best album.”

As mentioned previously there was one more track on the album and it was a duet with Johnny Cash on Girl From The North Country. This wasn’t Cash’s only contribution to the album. A supporter of Dylan and his music, Cash wrote the liner notes for the album for which he won a Grammy.

Cash was also at the Columbia Studios working on his new album and on 17^th and 18th February both artists recorded a number of duets together, including Girl from The North Country, which have become known as the ‘Dylan/Cash Sessions.’

Cash was recording with regulars Marshall Grant on bass and W. S. Holland on drums and new guitarist Bob Wootton who was making his first studio appearance with Cash.

They recorded a mix of country standards, Cash and Dylan originals, gospel and old Sun Records classics. It was an unlikely pairing as they were not the ideal partners with both singing in different registers, often with different phrasing and very rarely singing the same song the same way twice. However, it was an historical meeting of two artists whose admiration for each other was evident to hear.

There have been many bootlegs featuring these legendary recordings and it always seemed unlikely that they would ever find an official release. That was all to change with the 3-CD,  2019 release Travellin’ Thru – The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 1967-1969.

Unlike previous releases in the ‘Bootleg’ series the compilers have chosen to pick single rather than multiple takes as on previous releases like The Cutting Edge and More Blood, More Tracks. While it is interesting to hear how a song came together this new release gives a more pleasant and balanced listening experience.

The first CD features alternate versions from the John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline sessions with seven tracks from each album along with a previously unreleased outtake of a song that didn’t make it onto Nashville Skyline. On these tracks Dylan didn’t alter lyrics during the recording like he was often prone to do and so many of these takes are very similar to the released versions. That doesn’t mean they are not interesting to listen to as there are subtle differences in the backing and his vocals. Highlights include first takes of Drifter’s Escape, All Along The Watchtower, John Wesley Harding, To Be Alone With You, a great version of Lay Lady Lay and the previously unreleased outtake, Western Road. This last track is a blues song which would have seemed out of place on Nashville Skyline but is a great performance nonetheless.

Disc two finds us in the studio with Dylan and Cash on nineteen tracks, not all complete. The set opens with I Still Miss Someone the first of two takes on the CD. Other Cash classics include Big River, I Walk The Line, Guess Things Happen That Way. There are tracks from Sun Records including That’s All Right, Mystery Train and Matchbox, the latter features the guitar of Carl Perkins who was also in the studio recording that day. Other songs include Mountain Dew, attempted twice, You Are My Sunshine, One Too Many Mornings, and a couple of Jimmie Rodgers medleys. Wanted Man was a Dylan original that he never recorded himself but Cash would use as the opening song at his San Quentin concert a few days later. Careless Love finds them trying to find words to rhyme with various guns and is fun to listen to. Dylan had written and recorded Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right and Cash took the melody and wrote his own song, Understand Your Man. Here they choose to sing the songs together, each singing their own song and swapping mid-way through. It shouldn’t work and in places doesn’t, but it is one of the standout tracks.

This session always seemed like two friends just having fun but from listening to the CD it is obvious it was more than that. From the multiple takes of some songs and hearing Cash on a number of occasions asking for the lyrics to be written down leads one to the feeling that this was a serious attempt to record a ‘Duets’ album.

The final disc features five more duets, Dylan’s appearance on Cash’s TV show including their duet on Girl From The North Country, two tracks from the Self Portrait sessions (covers of Cash’s Ring Of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues) and a handful of tracks Dylan recorded with Earl Scruggs.

I have all fifteen releases in the Bob Dylan ‘Bootleg’ series and this is a welcome addition and one of my favourites. As Dylan said… ‘Is it rolling, Bob?’ The answer is yes. Sit back and enjoy!

With thanks to Steve Berkowitz, Tom Burleigh, Jeroen Vandermeer and Sony Music Entertainment.

WELCOME

First of all, welcome to my blog!

This is my first post and gives me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little about me, my career, interests and what I have planned for the future.

For as long as I can remember music has been a major part of my life, not only listening to my favourite artists but reading about them too. My ever-growing record collection and library are proof of this, if any proof was needed. I never imagined back in my younger days how much it would change my life.

In 1990 my first book was published, Cliff Richard - The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990, written with my co-author Nigel Goodall. Over the next twenty years, together with Nigel, we wrote two more books on Cliff as well as revisiting his back-catalogue and working on over 60 CD projects for EMI Records, as well as DVD and TV projects. Taking a break from Cliff we also took time out to write a book on Queen, the rock group not Her Majesty.

In my own right I have authored books on Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Cash. In 1994 I started the Johnny Cash Fanzine which ran for twenty-five years and gained the respect of the Cash Family, his management and various record companies. I have been commissioned to work on many articles, not only on Johnny Cash but various artists, for magazines including Record Collector, Get Rhythm and Vintage Rock.

For many years I have had an interest in photography although my work was limited to landscapes and dog shows but in 2015, having attended several Comic Conventions and events in London and Brighton,  I had the opportunity to work with cosplayers which led to more work with models, both hobbyist and semi-professional.

Whilst music and photography are my two biggest passions, I also have a keen interest in old Railways (particularly disused Stations), urban exploration (urbex) and the world of dogs.

Music and photography are both important to me not least of all because it helps me deal with depression and panic attacks which I have suffered for many years and does affect my daily life. At this point I must thank my family, especially my wife Carole, the friends I have made during my years as a writer and all the models I have worked with, many who have become good friends, for their support and encouragement over the years.

So, this blog will allow me to write about the things I am passionate about and I plan on writing regular posts on music, photography, urbex and dogs and hope you will enjoy reading them and will keep coming back.

If you have any ideas or suggestions regarding future posts, please feel free to send a message via the contact page. I also appreciate any comments/feedback on this and future posts, positive or negative.

Thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to follow me and comment.

Thank you,

Peter