LONG JOHN BALDRY
''BOOGIE WOOGIE: THE WARNER BROS. RECORDINGS, DISC ONE''
NOVEMBER 18 2005
122:33
********************
DISC ONE (69:11)
1 Conditional Discharge (Remastered) 03:16
2 Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock And Roll (Remastered) 03:25
3 Black Girl (Remastered) 02:49
4 It Ain't Easy (Remastered) 04:55
5 Morning, Morning (Remastered) 02:38
6 I'm Ready (Remastered) 04:13
7 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (Remastered) 04:15
8 Mr. Rubin (Remastered) 04:07
9 Rock Me When He’s Gone (Remastered) 04:07
10 Flying (Remastered) 06:56
11 Going Down Slow (Prev. Unreleased) 03:17
12 Blues (Cornbread, Meat And Molasses) (Prev. Unreleased) 03:00
13 Love In Vain (Prev. Unreleased) 04:21
14 Midnight Hour Blues (Prev. Unreleased) 04:11
15 Black Girl (Alternate Version) 03:34
16 It Ain't Easy (Alternate Version) 05:11
17 I’m Ready (Alternate Version) 04:15
18 Radio Spot (Hidden Track) 00:35
**********
DISC TWO (53:22)
1 Come Back Again (Remastered) 04:03
2 Seventh Son (Remastered) 03:08
3 Wild Mountain Thyme (Remastered) 03:52
4 Iko Iko (Remastered) 03:08
5 Jubilee Cloud (Remastered) 04:18
6 Everything Stops For Tea (Remastered) 03:07
7 You Can't Judge A Book (Remastered) 04:21
8 Mother Ain't Dead (Remastered) 02:54
9 Hambone (Remastered) 04:02
10 Lord Remember Me (Remastered) 04:09
11 Armit's Trousers (Remastered) 01:54
12 Radio Spot#1 (Clips of "Everything Stops for Tea" "Iko Iko" & "Seventh Son") 01:07
13 Bring My Baby Back To Me (Live at Mar-Y-Sol Festival Prev. Unreleased) 06:30
14 Only Love Can Break Your Heart 03:14
15 I'm Just A Rake & Rambling Boy (Prev. Unreleased) 03:28
********************
ABOUT THE ALBUM
J.P. Ryan, www.amazon.com
John Baldry secured his place in British blues and rock history beginning a decade before these recordings were made, there at the start of the early '60s when the Stones, Yardbirds, Pretty Things and so many more future were meeting each other art school underachievers and future immortals gathered around en ambryonic scene to share energy and connect with other outsiders obsessed with American blues, R&B, and folk recordings.
Baldry was born in 1940, roughly the same age as the Stones and Yardbirds, and by the mid '60s had already discovered Leadbelly during the late '50s folk revival, and fronted a series of bands. His stature as mentor and bandleader would earn the gratitude and good will of those he worked with. Later, in 1970, two of his proteges in particular would have achieved international success on a scale Baldry couldn't hope to match, and for "It Ain't Easy" (1971) and "Everything Stops For Tea" (1972), Rod Stewart and Elton John each agreed to produce one side of a pair of Baldry albums that are probably his finest ever.
Baldry's place in the evolution of British blues/rock is undisputed: in 1961 - 62 he sang with Blues Inc, a group that featured Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts (months before they co-founded the Rolling Stones later that year), as well as Jack Bruce (Graham Bond, Cream) and Alexis Korner. Next he fronted the Cyril Davies All-Stars, featuring Jimmy Page and pianist Nicky Hopkins, who worked with Stewart and Ron Wood in the Jeff Beck Group. Stewart (along with Trinity's Brian Augur and Julie Driscoll, and Jeff Beck Group drummer Mick Waller) played in Baldry's Hoochie Coochie Men and Steampacket during 1964 - 66.
After a misguided (artistically) foray into MOR, in 1970 Baldry was signed to Warner Bros, and by January 1971 he and a stellar crew of old friends were recording a terrific new album for the label, "It Ain't Easy". The results reached # 84 in Billboard's Top 200 album chart (and even produced a charting single, 'Don't Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock & Roll'), Baldry's only real chart success in the States. The first disc on this wonderful set is an expanded version of that album, produced by Rod Stewart (side one of the original vinyl) and Elton John (side two). Perhaps some of you have the vinyl, but the sessions produced many unreleased songs and versions, and most of them appear to be from the Stewart-produced sessions. Certainly fans of "Gasoline Alley" or Faces will finds much to enjoy on this almost forgotton little classic. Check out the scorching Ron Wood/Sam Mitchell guitar team's workout on Muddy Waters' 'I'm Ready', which rocks deleriously. (I first heard this track a year ago on a Cabridge college radio station, and immediatly recognized Wood's sonic stamp, leading me to wonder - at least until John starts to sing - how I'd missed what sounds like a really hot Faces track). Stewart - then at his creative peak, known for an uncalculated persona that made him seem like a hugely gifted everyman who'd stumbled into the role of superstar - proves Baldry's perfect collaborator. In a year when Rod recorded the classic "Every Picture Tells A Story" and two superb Faces albums, "Long Player" and "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...", everything he touched seemed worthy of attention, and "It Ain't Easy," the first and best of Baldry's Warner Bros albums is no exception. Stewart utilizes Wood, Mitchell, Mick Waller and other friends who contributed mightily to Rod's finest achievements, his five Mercury solo albums, and the material herein will delight fans of those records; yet Rod also experiments with the settings as well, adding sax on the aforementioned rocker that became a minor hit, and occasional backing vocalists led by Maggie Bell or Madeleine Bell. The bonus cuts are superb - less 'produced' than the released tracks, they're mostly blues, and that suits Baldry's voice just fine. Check the scorching, impassioned take on 'Love In Vain' or Baldry's understated interpretations of Leroy Carr and Howlin Wolf ('Going Down Slow') all of which are equal to the originally released material and worth the price of admission. No question, the sackful of bonus tracks are in no way mere filler. Throughout "It Ain't Easy" Ron Wood, Stewart's partner in the Beck Group and Faces, adds witty, soulful, loose-yet-apt commentary or smoldering performances; his and Mitchell's guitars, bottleneck, and dobro work are always subtle and a pleasure to hear. The rest of Stewart's band, Waller, mandolin player Ray Jackson ('Maggie May') and pianist Ian Armit give Baldry's voice the best possible settings on such exquisite material as the haunting Fugs classic 'Morning, Morning,' and Leadbelly's 'Black Girl,' not to mention the great title track, which would be famously recorded one year later by David Bowie on "Ziggy Stardust".
As for the Elton John side, Reg hadn't yet become a smarmy poptart, and here used his regular band (Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, etc) on four songs that comprise the original LP's second side. Only slightly less raw than Stewart's tracks, Elton and Baldry manage to nail a smoldering and sexy reinvention of Randy Newman's 'Let's Burn Down The Cornfield'; elsewhere Elton's uncharacteristic restraint serves Baldry well: a savory seven-minute version of Faces' 'Flying' is one surprising highlight, and closes the original album on a gorgeous high note. The whole disc, now expanded to 18 tracks, is a real good time.
The second disc, "Everything Stops For Tea," - also expanded, to include a brace of live tracks from the Mar-Y-Sol festival, among other goodies - is only slightly less successful than "It Ain't Easy," but certainly offers many fine moments including a lovely banjo performance by Stewart, who duets with Baldry to marvelous effect. The gorgeous folk classic 'Wild Mountain Tyme' is another piece that is given an original and affecting perfomance. If the material isn't always as stunning as that of its predecessor, what the excellent cast laid down is always quite enjoyable. And if you happen to find a copy of the original vinyl cheap (I scored a sealed promo copy for $10 just a few years back), it's well worth it for Ron Wood's marvelous Lewis Carroll-inspired gatefold cover painting. "The Warner Bros Recordings" succeeds as a wonderful reissue and rediscovery of Baldry's most accomplished recordings. As usual the project is yet another meticulously mastered, annotated, and produced set from Rhinohandmade. Highly recommended - while supplies of this numbered, limited edition last!
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Like Cliff Richard, Chris Farlowe, Slade, Blur, and eel pie, Long John Baldry is one of those peculiarly British phenomena that doggedly resists American translation. As a historical figure, he has undeniable importance. When he began singing as a teenager in the 1950s, he was one of the first British vocalists to perform folk and blues music. In the early '60s, he sang in the band of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, Blues Incorporated, which also served as a starting point for future rock stars Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce, and others. As a member of Blues Incorporated, he contributed to the first British blues album, R&B at the Marquee (1962). He then joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars, taking over the group (renamed Long John Baldry and His Hoochie Coochie Men) after Davies' death in early 1964. This band featured Rod Stewart as a second vocalist, and also employed Geoff Bradford (who had been in an embryonic version of the Rolling Stones) on guitar.
In the mid-'60s, he helped form Steampacket, a proto-supergroup that also featured Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and Brian Auger. When Steampacket broke up, he fronted Bluesology, the band that gave keyboardist Reg Dwight -- soon to become Elton John -- his first prestigious gig. He was a well-liked figure on the London club circuit, and in fact the Beatles took him on as a guest on one of their 1964 British TV specials, at a time when the Fab Four could have been no bigger, and Baldry was virtually unknown.
Ironically, his greatest commercial success came not with blues, but orchestrated pop ballads that echoed Engelbert Humperdinck. The 1967 single "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached number one in Britain, and Baldry had several other small British hits in the late '60s, the biggest of which was "Mexico" (1968). (None of these made an impression in the U.S.)
The commercial success of his ballads led Baldry to forsake the blues on record for a few years. He returned to blues and rock in 1971 on It Ain't Easy, for which Rod Stewart and Elton John shared the production duties. The album contained a tiny American chart item, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," and Stewart and John split the production once again on the 1972 follow-up, Everything Stops for Tea. Baldry never caught on as an international figure, though, and by 1980 had become a Canadian citizen. He continued to record, and did commercial voice-overs as well as the voice of Doctor Robotnik in children's cartoons. After battling a severe chest infection for several months, Long John Baldry passed away on July 21, 2005, while hospitalized in Vancouver.
********************
TO THE TOP
********************
''BOOGIE WOOGIE: THE WARNER BROS. RECORDINGS, DISC ONE''
NOVEMBER 18 2005
122:33
********************
DISC ONE (69:11)
1 Conditional Discharge (Remastered) 03:16
2 Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock And Roll (Remastered) 03:25
3 Black Girl (Remastered) 02:49
4 It Ain't Easy (Remastered) 04:55
5 Morning, Morning (Remastered) 02:38
6 I'm Ready (Remastered) 04:13
7 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (Remastered) 04:15
8 Mr. Rubin (Remastered) 04:07
9 Rock Me When He’s Gone (Remastered) 04:07
10 Flying (Remastered) 06:56
11 Going Down Slow (Prev. Unreleased) 03:17
12 Blues (Cornbread, Meat And Molasses) (Prev. Unreleased) 03:00
13 Love In Vain (Prev. Unreleased) 04:21
14 Midnight Hour Blues (Prev. Unreleased) 04:11
15 Black Girl (Alternate Version) 03:34
16 It Ain't Easy (Alternate Version) 05:11
17 I’m Ready (Alternate Version) 04:15
18 Radio Spot (Hidden Track) 00:35
**********
DISC TWO (53:22)
1 Come Back Again (Remastered) 04:03
2 Seventh Son (Remastered) 03:08
3 Wild Mountain Thyme (Remastered) 03:52
4 Iko Iko (Remastered) 03:08
5 Jubilee Cloud (Remastered) 04:18
6 Everything Stops For Tea (Remastered) 03:07
7 You Can't Judge A Book (Remastered) 04:21
8 Mother Ain't Dead (Remastered) 02:54
9 Hambone (Remastered) 04:02
10 Lord Remember Me (Remastered) 04:09
11 Armit's Trousers (Remastered) 01:54
12 Radio Spot#1 (Clips of "Everything Stops for Tea" "Iko Iko" & "Seventh Son") 01:07
13 Bring My Baby Back To Me (Live at Mar-Y-Sol Festival Prev. Unreleased) 06:30
14 Only Love Can Break Your Heart 03:14
15 I'm Just A Rake & Rambling Boy (Prev. Unreleased) 03:28
********************
ABOUT THE ALBUM
J.P. Ryan, www.amazon.com
John Baldry secured his place in British blues and rock history beginning a decade before these recordings were made, there at the start of the early '60s when the Stones, Yardbirds, Pretty Things and so many more future were meeting each other art school underachievers and future immortals gathered around en ambryonic scene to share energy and connect with other outsiders obsessed with American blues, R&B, and folk recordings.
Baldry was born in 1940, roughly the same age as the Stones and Yardbirds, and by the mid '60s had already discovered Leadbelly during the late '50s folk revival, and fronted a series of bands. His stature as mentor and bandleader would earn the gratitude and good will of those he worked with. Later, in 1970, two of his proteges in particular would have achieved international success on a scale Baldry couldn't hope to match, and for "It Ain't Easy" (1971) and "Everything Stops For Tea" (1972), Rod Stewart and Elton John each agreed to produce one side of a pair of Baldry albums that are probably his finest ever.
Baldry's place in the evolution of British blues/rock is undisputed: in 1961 - 62 he sang with Blues Inc, a group that featured Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts (months before they co-founded the Rolling Stones later that year), as well as Jack Bruce (Graham Bond, Cream) and Alexis Korner. Next he fronted the Cyril Davies All-Stars, featuring Jimmy Page and pianist Nicky Hopkins, who worked with Stewart and Ron Wood in the Jeff Beck Group. Stewart (along with Trinity's Brian Augur and Julie Driscoll, and Jeff Beck Group drummer Mick Waller) played in Baldry's Hoochie Coochie Men and Steampacket during 1964 - 66.
After a misguided (artistically) foray into MOR, in 1970 Baldry was signed to Warner Bros, and by January 1971 he and a stellar crew of old friends were recording a terrific new album for the label, "It Ain't Easy". The results reached # 84 in Billboard's Top 200 album chart (and even produced a charting single, 'Don't Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock & Roll'), Baldry's only real chart success in the States. The first disc on this wonderful set is an expanded version of that album, produced by Rod Stewart (side one of the original vinyl) and Elton John (side two). Perhaps some of you have the vinyl, but the sessions produced many unreleased songs and versions, and most of them appear to be from the Stewart-produced sessions. Certainly fans of "Gasoline Alley" or Faces will finds much to enjoy on this almost forgotton little classic. Check out the scorching Ron Wood/Sam Mitchell guitar team's workout on Muddy Waters' 'I'm Ready', which rocks deleriously. (I first heard this track a year ago on a Cabridge college radio station, and immediatly recognized Wood's sonic stamp, leading me to wonder - at least until John starts to sing - how I'd missed what sounds like a really hot Faces track). Stewart - then at his creative peak, known for an uncalculated persona that made him seem like a hugely gifted everyman who'd stumbled into the role of superstar - proves Baldry's perfect collaborator. In a year when Rod recorded the classic "Every Picture Tells A Story" and two superb Faces albums, "Long Player" and "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...", everything he touched seemed worthy of attention, and "It Ain't Easy," the first and best of Baldry's Warner Bros albums is no exception. Stewart utilizes Wood, Mitchell, Mick Waller and other friends who contributed mightily to Rod's finest achievements, his five Mercury solo albums, and the material herein will delight fans of those records; yet Rod also experiments with the settings as well, adding sax on the aforementioned rocker that became a minor hit, and occasional backing vocalists led by Maggie Bell or Madeleine Bell. The bonus cuts are superb - less 'produced' than the released tracks, they're mostly blues, and that suits Baldry's voice just fine. Check the scorching, impassioned take on 'Love In Vain' or Baldry's understated interpretations of Leroy Carr and Howlin Wolf ('Going Down Slow') all of which are equal to the originally released material and worth the price of admission. No question, the sackful of bonus tracks are in no way mere filler. Throughout "It Ain't Easy" Ron Wood, Stewart's partner in the Beck Group and Faces, adds witty, soulful, loose-yet-apt commentary or smoldering performances; his and Mitchell's guitars, bottleneck, and dobro work are always subtle and a pleasure to hear. The rest of Stewart's band, Waller, mandolin player Ray Jackson ('Maggie May') and pianist Ian Armit give Baldry's voice the best possible settings on such exquisite material as the haunting Fugs classic 'Morning, Morning,' and Leadbelly's 'Black Girl,' not to mention the great title track, which would be famously recorded one year later by David Bowie on "Ziggy Stardust".
As for the Elton John side, Reg hadn't yet become a smarmy poptart, and here used his regular band (Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, etc) on four songs that comprise the original LP's second side. Only slightly less raw than Stewart's tracks, Elton and Baldry manage to nail a smoldering and sexy reinvention of Randy Newman's 'Let's Burn Down The Cornfield'; elsewhere Elton's uncharacteristic restraint serves Baldry well: a savory seven-minute version of Faces' 'Flying' is one surprising highlight, and closes the original album on a gorgeous high note. The whole disc, now expanded to 18 tracks, is a real good time.
The second disc, "Everything Stops For Tea," - also expanded, to include a brace of live tracks from the Mar-Y-Sol festival, among other goodies - is only slightly less successful than "It Ain't Easy," but certainly offers many fine moments including a lovely banjo performance by Stewart, who duets with Baldry to marvelous effect. The gorgeous folk classic 'Wild Mountain Tyme' is another piece that is given an original and affecting perfomance. If the material isn't always as stunning as that of its predecessor, what the excellent cast laid down is always quite enjoyable. And if you happen to find a copy of the original vinyl cheap (I scored a sealed promo copy for $10 just a few years back), it's well worth it for Ron Wood's marvelous Lewis Carroll-inspired gatefold cover painting. "The Warner Bros Recordings" succeeds as a wonderful reissue and rediscovery of Baldry's most accomplished recordings. As usual the project is yet another meticulously mastered, annotated, and produced set from Rhinohandmade. Highly recommended - while supplies of this numbered, limited edition last!
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Like Cliff Richard, Chris Farlowe, Slade, Blur, and eel pie, Long John Baldry is one of those peculiarly British phenomena that doggedly resists American translation. As a historical figure, he has undeniable importance. When he began singing as a teenager in the 1950s, he was one of the first British vocalists to perform folk and blues music. In the early '60s, he sang in the band of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, Blues Incorporated, which also served as a starting point for future rock stars Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce, and others. As a member of Blues Incorporated, he contributed to the first British blues album, R&B at the Marquee (1962). He then joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars, taking over the group (renamed Long John Baldry and His Hoochie Coochie Men) after Davies' death in early 1964. This band featured Rod Stewart as a second vocalist, and also employed Geoff Bradford (who had been in an embryonic version of the Rolling Stones) on guitar.
In the mid-'60s, he helped form Steampacket, a proto-supergroup that also featured Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and Brian Auger. When Steampacket broke up, he fronted Bluesology, the band that gave keyboardist Reg Dwight -- soon to become Elton John -- his first prestigious gig. He was a well-liked figure on the London club circuit, and in fact the Beatles took him on as a guest on one of their 1964 British TV specials, at a time when the Fab Four could have been no bigger, and Baldry was virtually unknown.
Ironically, his greatest commercial success came not with blues, but orchestrated pop ballads that echoed Engelbert Humperdinck. The 1967 single "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached number one in Britain, and Baldry had several other small British hits in the late '60s, the biggest of which was "Mexico" (1968). (None of these made an impression in the U.S.)
The commercial success of his ballads led Baldry to forsake the blues on record for a few years. He returned to blues and rock in 1971 on It Ain't Easy, for which Rod Stewart and Elton John shared the production duties. The album contained a tiny American chart item, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," and Stewart and John split the production once again on the 1972 follow-up, Everything Stops for Tea. Baldry never caught on as an international figure, though, and by 1980 had become a Canadian citizen. He continued to record, and did commercial voice-overs as well as the voice of Doctor Robotnik in children's cartoons. After battling a severe chest infection for several months, Long John Baldry passed away on July 21, 2005, while hospitalized in Vancouver.
********************
TO THE TOP
********************
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