Category: Playlists

It has been pretty much a year since I had a look at the early years of Fleetwood Mac, so it was about time that I had a look at their career after founder member and legendary guitar, Peter Green, left the band.

In my post from August 2020, I lamented that the blues era of the band had been poorly served by compilers of the groups archive. If I thought that the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac has been poorly served by the endless reissuing of only the most successful tracks from time or poorly research archive compilations, well, the next era is a virtual desert. When Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac, the band continued to make records and tour but without the blues guitar hero up front, the sound began to change from blues, to rock, to soft rock. Between 1970 and 1974, Fleetwood Mac released an album a year but from the 2018 50 Years Anniversary Compilation, you would hardly now it. 

On the 1 disc set which I suspect was designed to appeal to the casual buyer did not contain a single song from this era. In fact, only three songs from the twenty on the disc came form the Peter Green Era. On the three disc set, only disc one covered the first seven and most productive (in terms of releases) period of the band. With seventeen songs to cover this period, nine songs are from this forgotten second era which is not bad and the majority were single edits that I had never heard before. Nice touch but it really shows where the band through the money is as the rest of the set is from 1975 onwards. For the average Mac fan, this is most probably all they know. All of the Reprise label releases from 1969-1974 were released in a box set in 2020, but the lack of unreleased songs, be it in the studio or live was noticeable. This is a shame as this second era from contained its fair share of top notch songs. 

Mac kicked things off in the 70s by releasing the ‘Kiln House’ album and this is the weakest of this era’s records. It is a band trying to find their feet after their leading light and driving force left. It is not a great album, but it does have some good playing and a couple of good songs. As if losing one founder member wasn’t enough, by the time the next album came out, Jeremy Spencer had also left. This is where they drafted in the guitar playing who would play on all of the remaining albums throughout this era and who’s departure in 1974 would lead to Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining the band.  

This man was Bob Welch and ‘Future Games’ was the first album he appeared on. This album is one, possibly two songs away from being a lost classic. It is also as far from the blues as you can get and it is not a surprise that the band lost a lot of their key UK audience around this period. Who wants to listen to soft rock with a sunshine Californian jazzy feel that came courtesy of American Welsh? Not the bands British fan base at any rate. The same line up continued on to the next album, ‘Bare Trees’ which also contained Welsh’s signature song, ‘Sentimental Lady’ which became a top ten US hit when he recorded a solo version in 1977. For Danny Kirwan though, this would be the end of the road. He had struggled since Peter Green left and his drinking had become a problem. After one too many incidents of erratic behaviour, Kirwan was out and the band regrouped with ex Savoy Brown singer Dave Walker and guitar player for hire Bob Weston coming in. 

The band’s next album, ‘Penguin’ is not a great album with a pretty pedestrian cover of I’m A Road Runner making up the numbers.  Penguin is notable for having a brief appearance by Peter Green on the song Nightwatch. At the time, this was the first Mac record to make any headway in the US, even though is did nothing in the UK. Walker did not last long as the band were not ready for a front person who didn’t play a guitar or keyboards and he was gone by the time the sessions for their next album which was called ‘Mystery To Me’. This was an improvement on the previous record and continued with the trend of their early 70s albums to do reasonably well in the US, but not in the UK. However, band harmony didn’t last long as it was found that Bob Weston was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood’s wife. The tour fell apart and Clifford Davis, the band’s manager sent a fake Mac on the road claiming he owned the band name. This fake Mac would end up changing their name to Stretch and release a number of records of their own. 

After a suggestion from Welch, the band relocated to the US and have pretty much stayed there ever since. The recorded their first US based album and it was called ‘Heroes Are Hard To Find’. Even though the album was the first Mac album to break into the US top 40, Welch felt it was time to move on. He felt that he had given all he could to the band and with his marriage failing, he moved on to pastures new. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find all of these songs on Spotify, especially as their were quite a number of songs from the Peter Green era that meant I could not create a play list on the platform. These compilations CD show a band in transition, but there is enough good songs in here to show that these albums are unduly being ignored with a lack of deluxe reissues. Bizarrely, all of the albums Danny Kirwan was on were given a Vinyl Box Set reissue in 2013 but apart from the addition of the single Oh Well (Parts 1 & 2) was the only bonus track. There have been a rare occasion when this era does get a compilation, this normally throws in a couple of rare or unreleased studio cuts with a load of live tracks. Why not put out some deluxe editions record label? Come on Warner Brothers Records, you can do better than this. The label was not swallowed up by Universal so the bands archives did not catch fire in 2008 so surely there is more in the archive? 

This era might be the bridge between the blues era and the multi million dollar selling soft rock behemoth but it does show how the band went from one to the other. So for now here is, to my mind anyway, the best of the years 1970-74. Enjoy.   

Disc 1

1. Homeward Bound
2. Child of Mine
3. Sentimental Lady
4. The Ghost
5. Earl Grey
6. Future Games
7. Woman Of 1000 Years
8. Sands Of Time
9. Sometimes
10. Spare Me A Little Of Your Love
11. Sunny Side Of Heaven
12. Morning Rain
13. Hi Ho Silver
14. Tell Me All The Things You Do
15. One Together
16. Dust
17. Show Me A Smile

Disc 2

1. Remember Me
2. (I’m A) Roadrunner
3. Angel
4. Coming Home
5. Keep On Going
6. The Derelict
7. Heroes Are Hard To Find
8. Bad Loser
9. Emerald Eyes
10. Believe Me
11. Night Watch
12. Dissatisfied
13. Revelation
14. The City
15. Prove Your Love
16. The Way I Feel
17. Bright Fire
18. Come A Little Closer
19. Caught In The Rain
20. Why

As there has been a couple of episodes of the podcast looking at the later years of Eric Clapton’s career, I thought it was time to have a look at one fo the seminal bands he appeared with during his early career. 

Ah Cream, one of the first supergroups. Famous for the inventing the power trio, their proficiency with their instruments, their extended solos and producing some the greatest music of all time. The existence of the band was always going to be a limited affair due to volatile nature of the relationship between bassist (plus loads of other instruments) Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. Having played together in a previous band, Baker and Bruce had been known for their quarrelling, on stage fights and damaging one another’s instruments. Baker had had Bruce fired and Bruce only stopped turning up for gigs after Baker had threatened him with a knife. It was Clapton though who wanted Bruce in as he had played with him in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Even though Bruce and Baker were reluctant, they decided to put their differences aside and took they name, Cream. The individual members did have reputations at the time as being the best around but taking that sort of name still meant they had to prove it. 

The band initially played a tight set but soon expanded the songs they were playing, mostly down to the fact that initially they did not have much in the way of original material. It was also agreed that the band would split songwriting duties between them and that Bruce would be the main vocalist. Fresh Cream, the band’s first album clearly shows this as both Baker and Bruce contributed material, but Bruce sang all the lead vocal parts except on Four Units Late, which Clapton sang. Clapton was not very confident about singing at this stage and as far as I can tell, not written any original material. Out of all of the albums Cream produced, Fresh Cream could be argued to be the most focused. The songs are mostly blues based and to the point even though the beginnings of the extended jam material can be seen here with the inclusion of Spoonful and Toad, both of which clock in at over 5 minutes each. The first two singles were also not included on this album, the rock classic I Feel Free and the ‘are you sure that is Cream’ debut record, Wrapping Paper.  

Disraeli Gears, the second effort is most probably their most famous record. With its memorable sleeve and including such classics as Sunshine of Your Love, it is let down by two of the weakest efforts in the band’s catalogue. Blue Condition and Mother’s Lament. When a box set and deluxe edition of this album came out, there were a number of songs that had been demoed for this album but these were not put on the record because the record label thought of them as uncommercial. Surely a song needs to be good, not just commercial? The majority of the music for this compilation comes from these two albums, and they are the best. After this, the standard of the music on the LPs in my opinions diminishes somewhat. 

Wheels on Fire did include the classic White Room, but after that, the original material is possibly a bit too experimental, or just not good enough for me. The live album suffers from the same problem that most records of that nature suffer from, in that a three piece has a big hole in the sound once the lead guitar player goes for a solo. There are also limitations in what you can do with a three piece, and when it sounds like all of them are taking a solo at the same time, it is no wonder that they turned the sound up so they could hear themselves. Goodbye sounds as though it was knocked out to fulfil their contract, with each member supplying a song each and the rest of the record containing more live material of songs released on their previous albums. This album also included Badge, a song that would would become one of the bands most famous pieces but was not included on here as I don’t like it. 

This is the problem I have with Cream. They have a great reputation and can be said to be one of the precursors for heavy rock/metal, but for a band with such a great reputation, their recording legacy does not quite match up. Yes, they produced some classic songs which are still played on the radio today, but there was so many that were not very good. There is also their reputation as a live act, which I have also struggled with. I bought all of the live recordings up to a point but after a while, the constant soloing can become quite hard to listen to . When they got it right, as shown here by the covers of Steppin’ Out and Crossroads, they were great. Most of the time, it was just too self indulgent for my tastes. However, there was enough material for me to compile a CD and I am sure there will be those that will disagree with this playlist and feel other songs should have been included, or that I have been a bit harsh on their live reputation, but its just my opinion folks.   

1. Wrapping Paper
2. I Feel Free
3. N.S.U.
4. Cat’s Squirrel
5. Four Until Late
6. Dreaming
7. Rollin’ & Tumblin’
8. Strange Brew
9. Sunshine Of Your Love
10. Steppin’ Out
11. Crossroads
12. World Of Pain
13. Dance The Night Away
14. Tales Of Brave Ulysses
15. White Room
16. Born Under A Bad Sign
17. The Coffee Song
18. SWLABR
19. Outside Woman Blues
20. Take It Back
21. I’m So Glad
22. Doing The Scrapyard Thing
23. Deserted Cities Of The Heart
24. What A Bringdown

The cover is taken from https://www.redbubble.com/shop/cream+band+posters

Here on the third volume of my Under The Influence Series, the theme is once again 60’s soul but we have moved later into the decade with some songs coming from the early 70’s.

Disc 1

1. Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley
2. In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
3. Do The Funky Chicken – Rufus Thomas
4. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown
5. A Certain Girl – Ernie K-Doe
6. Mojo Hannah – Little Esther Phillips
7. See Saw – Don Covay & The Goodtimers
8. I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) – Eddie Floyd
9. Walk On By – Dionne Warwick
10. I’d Rather Go Blind – Etta James
11. I Was Made To Love Her – Stevie Wonder
12. 25 Miles – Edwin Starr
13. Ain’t To Proud To Beg – The Temptations
14. Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
15. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave – Martha & The Vandellas
16. Shop Around – The Miracle
17. I Thank You – Sam & Dave
18. You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
19. Land Of 1000 Dances – Wilson Pickett
20. Respect – Aretha Franklin
21. Mr. Pitiful – Otis Redding
22. Heaven Must Have Have Sent You – The Elgins
23. Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
24. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever – The Four Tops
25. Lonely Lover – Marvin Gaye
26. You’re No Good –  Betty Everette
27. Under The Boardwalk – The Drifters
28. You Don’t Miss Your Water – William Bell
29. I Don’t Know What You’re Got (But It’s Not Me) Parts 1 & 2

Disc 2

1. Feeling Good – Nina Simone
2. Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag Pt.1 – James Brown
3. Last Night – The Mar-Kets
4. Green Onions – Booker T & The MG’s
5. Walking The Dog – Rufus Thomas
6. B-A-B-Y – Carla Thomas
7. Soul Finger – The Bar-Kays
8. Soul Man – Sam & Dave
9. Who’s Making Love – Johnnie Taylor
10. Respect – Otis Redding
11. Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
12. Private Number – Judy Clay & William Bell
13. Can’t See You When I Want To – David Porter
14. Piece Of My Heart – Erma Franklin
15. Harlem Shuffle – Bob & Earl
16. When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge
17. Oh No Not My Baby – Maxine Brown
18. Stop Her On Sight (SOS) – Edwin Starr
19. (I Know) I’m Losing You – The Temptations
20. Road Runner – Junior Walker & The All Stars
21. Dancing In The Street – Martha & The Vandellas
22. Reach Out, I’ll Be There – The Four Tops
23. Stand By Me – Ben E. King
24. For Once In My Life – Stevie Wonder
25. I Get The Sweetest Feeling – Jackie Wilson
26. Tracks Of My Tears – The Miracles
27. Abraham, Martin & John – Marvin Gaye
28. Stay With Me (Baby) – Lorraine Ellison

I have a real soft spot for music that came out in the Psychedelic Years of 1966-1969, and when I first getting into ‘it’, I only thought that this sort of music was produced in the UK and USA. A little digging though on the surface, it wasn’t hard to discover that the rest of the world wasn’t that far behind. I covered this topic in Episode 80 and 81 of the my podcast under the title of ‘Mundo Psych’. Those shows only scratched the service of what there was, and so this month I present Volume 1 in a more comprehensive look at this genre from around the world. 

Some of these songs could be argued to be bordering on Progressive Rock, but this works well as a compilation and a genre label is pretty loose anyway. 

Disc 1

1. Same – McCully Workshop Inc.
2. I Wonder Who – Aguaturbia
3. Hang Out – The Kaleidoscope (Mexico)
4. Hop Dedik – Erol Buyukburc
5. Dark Thoughts – New Dawn
6. People – Ladies W.C.
7. Turkuz Turku Cagiririz (Sur Efem Atini) – Mahzar Ve Faut
8. Quero Companheira – Rubinho E Mauro Assumpção
9. Sweet Sixteen – Ros Sereysothea
10. A Madman’s Cry – Otis Waygood
11. Lenon Blues – Three Souls In My Mind
12. Run & Hide – Speed, Glue & Shinki
13. Yesterday – Lightyears Away – Astral Navigation
14. Magic Colours – Teddy Robin & The Playboys
15. En Medio De La Lluvia – La Revolución De Emiliano Zapata
16. Glória Ao Rei Nos Confins Do Além – Os Mutantes
17. Así Serás – Congreso
18. Spring – Kim Jung Mi
19. The Evening Sun – Shin Jung-Hyeon & There Men
20. Foto De Primera Comunión – Los Jaivas

Disc 2

1. Toward The Sunlight – Kim Jung Mi
2. Hermano Perro – Almendra
3. Sniffin’ & Snortin’ Part 2 (Vitamin C) – Speed, Glue & Shinki
4. Inferno No Mundo – Bango
5. Sen Varson – Bulent Ortacgil & Benimle Oynar Misin
6. Walderez Walderea – Flavio Kurt
7. Inento N°.2 – Antorcha
8. Tatli Dillum – Cem Karaca & Kardaslar Apaslar
9. E.V.O.L. – Aguaturbia
10. Planetario – Geraldo Azevedo
11. Parque Industrial – Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes & Caetano Veloso
12. Cuando Era Nio – Los Ovnis
13. Vous – Michel Pagliaro
14. Une Petite Fille – Empreintes
15. No Mundo Da Lua – Rubinho E Mauro Assumpçao
16. Valley Of Sadness – The Third Eye
17. Los Pajaros – Kissing Spell
18. Beautiful Rivers & Mountains – Shin Joong Hyun & The Men
19. Michael Of Hair – Tokedashita Garasu Baku
20. Towards The Sunlight (Reprise) – Kim Jung Mi

Some of these songs have had a bit of an edit in places. A intro taken off here, and outro edited down there. The biggest edit is to Kim Jung Mi’s song ‘Towards The Sunlight’. I took the coda from the song and used is as the last song on Disc 2. It sounded better there than as the end of the opening song.

The title for this compilation comes from a CD released back in 2011 of the same name. It was a Various Artists disc looking at the music scene in Pernambuco, and area in northeast Brazil that had its own thriving music scene outside of the hubs of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The cover is also adapted from that compilation as well. 

With a new Tom Jones having dropped onto my doorstep (six years after his previous effort, which is far too long in my opinion considering the albums that went into making this this playlist were absolutely fantastic), I thought it was time to offer up a playlist of the great mans work. Now, Mr Jones has been a recording artist since 1964 and like any artist that has been recording as long as he has, there are going to be some duds in there with the gold. But what gold I would have had to choose from. His stellar A-Sides such as ‘Green, Grass of Home’, ‘Delilah’ and the immortal ‘It’s Not Unusual’. I could have looked deep cuts such as his first single ‘Chills & Fever’ or an overlooked B-Side such as ‘Looking Out My Window’ with a drum break that has been sampled numerous times. There was the resurrection of his career in the late 80s as well as the classic ‘Reload’ album for 1999. Even records from the wilderness years of the mid to late 70s have their nuggets included, but it is with the albums that Jones has released since 2010 that have inspired this playlist. 

2010 saw Jones leave the hair and beard dye at home, and come back with an album of blues and gospel songs called ‘Praise & Blame’ Before the album came out, David Sharpe, who was the Vice-President of Jones’ record label thought the album was a joke and wanted “to get my money back”. Showing that the people who run record labels don’t necessarily know a good thing when they hear it, the LP reached Number 2 in the UK album charts and make headway in other markets around the world. Jones seems to be in his element. The production is stripped back and it allows the songs to breath as well showing the power in Jones’ voice has not diminished over time. He followed this up this up with ‘Spirit In The Room’, which cast its net a bit wider when it came to the songs as this included material from his contemporaries such as Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen. A third album in this style followed in 2015 in the shape of ‘Long Lost Suitcase’ and it is from these three that this playlist comes from. I do hope we do not have to wait another six years for the next Tom Jones album.

1. What Good Am I?
2. Burning Hell
3. Lord Help
4. Take My Love (I Want To Give it)
5. Honey, Honey (With Imelda May)
6. Love & Blessings
7. Soul Of A Man
8. Elvis Presley Blues
9. Did Trouble Me
10. Opportunity To Cry
11. He Was  A Friend of Mine
12. Tower Of Song
13. Run On
14. Don’t Knock
15. I Wish You Would
16. Factory Girl
17. Ain’t No Grave
18. Didn’t It Rain
19. All Blues Hail Mary
20. If I Give My Soul
21. Charlie Darwin
22. Strange Things

I picked the title for this playlist as “Praise & Blame’ because it was a great cover and sums up perfectly the music contained within. The cover is the same as the original LP. 

After compiling Volume 2 earlier, this month, I found that I had enough songs to complete another set. Like Volume 2, this kicks off with a cover of “Gotta Get Up’. After that, there is a mix of songs Nilsson wrote but didn’t always record a version of himself. These include songs from before he signed his contract with RCA such as ‘A Travellin’ Man’ and ‘Paradise’ as wells many recorded afterwards. There is the other side of the single that Kenny Everett released (with the first being included on Vol.2) as well as more performances by The Turtles and Jimmy Cross. George Tipton, Nilsson’s arranger on his early records makes another appearance but there is also room for a novelty recording such as the version of ‘Without Her’ by Telly Savalas. The disc finishes with a special bonus in that it contains the song ‘Little More Rain’ from the ‘New Nilsson Songs’ demo album. As of now, no one has been able to find out who the singer is.

Once again, unlike Ace Record, I do not have access to the original tapes so some of these have been taken from vinyl transfers, so please excuse the pops etc. The sleeve is similar in style to the Ace Records volume. The differences being that I could not match the original font and there are no dates under the title. I decided that that was unnecessary as this was meant to highlight Nilsson songs throughout the years. Its not really the covers you are here for though, but the music. Well, that is top notch. Enjoy!

1. Gotta Get Up – Marty Finkel
2. Everybody Philly – The Citations
3. Maybe – Labi Siffre
4. 1941 – Joel Grey
5. It’s Been So Long – Kenny Everett
6. Me & My Arrow – Davy Jones
7. Wailing Of The Willow – Liza Minnelli
8. Remember (Christmas) – Johnny Mathis
9. Countin’ – Mike Clifford
10. Don’t Leave Me – Robert John
11. I Guess The Lord Must be In New York City – The New Yorkers
12. Chicken Track – Jimmie Cross
13. The Story Of Rock ’n’ Roll – The Turtles
14. The Puppy Song – David Cassidy
15. Open Your Window – George Tipton
16. One – Chris Clark
17. All My Life – The Walkmen (feat. Allesanora Mario)
18. Easy For Me – Ringo Starr
19. Without Her – Telly Savalas
20. Together – Clodagh Rodgers
21. Paradise – Jean King
22. A Travellin’ Man – The New Christine Minstrels
23. Little Cowboy – The Buffoons
24. Little More Rain – Unknown

Back in 2017, Ace Records released a wonderful collection dedicated to Harry Nilsson, the songwriter, not the performer. The collection was a curious mix of the well known (The Monkees), the family member (his daughter Annie Nilsson) and the down right obscure (Jimmie Cross). The album sleeve said that all of the songs came from 1965-1972, and then opened with a song recorded in 2013. Oh well. That is a bit of nit picking on my part, but Ace Records did a really good job with this compilation as it made some of the pre fame singles that I had only ever heard on scratchy vinyl transfer, available in crystal clear sound for what could have been the first time.

As Nilsson has had his songs covered by a myriad of artists that were not covered by this compilation, I thought I would see if there was enough material to make a volume 2. What I found is there was indeed enough for not only a second volume, but a third as well. I decided to try and follow the template of the original compilation as close as I can, starting the disc with a cover of the song ‘Gotta Get Up’. This is not one of Nilsson’s most covered songs but luckily there were two additional covers I could use. Both discs contain 24 songs and once again, they feature a mix of well known artists as well as the obscure. These include Hugo Montenegros’s rather bizarre cover of ‘Me & My Arrow’; a song from The Walkman, who decided to cover the entire ‘Pussy Cats’ album and are a couple of novelty covers from The Muppets and British DJ Kenny Everett (who on this occasion, plays it quite straight).

Unlike Ace Record, I do not have access to the original tapes so some of these have been taken from vinyl transfers, so please excuse the pops etc. The sleeve is similar in style to the Ace Records volume. The differences being that I could not match the original font and there are no dates under the title. I decided that that was unnecessary as this was meant to highlight Nilsson songs throughout the years. Its not really the covers you are here for though, but the music. Well, that is top notch. Enjoy!

1. Gotta Get Up – Davy Jones & Mickey Dolenz
2. Rainmaker – Bobbie Gentry
3. All For The Beatles (Stand Up & Holler) – The Originals
4. The Battle Of The Bands – The Turtles
5. Daddy’s Song – The Casuals
6. Baby, It’s Over – Debbie Burton
7. Wailing Of The Willow – Astrid Gilberto
8. Me & My Arrow – Hugo Montenegro
9. Super-Dupa Man – Jimmie Cross
10. Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore – George Tipton
11. Sister Sue – The Soul Men
12. So Proud Of You – Vivian Roberts
13. I’d Do It All Again – Dore Alpert
14. Readin’ Ridin’ & Racin’ – The Super Stocks
15. Open Your Window – Ella Fitzgerald
16. Don’t Leave Me – Griffin
17. One – Three Dog Night
18. Coconut – The Muppets
19. Without Her – Kenny Everett
20. Maybe – Barbra Streisand
21. Chicago – The Citations
22. Headlines – The Sunday Funnies
23. Paradise – The Ronettes
24. I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City – Sagittarius

Here on the second volume of my Under The Influence Series, the theme is 60’s soul with a smattering of songs that would later become known as Northern Soul. 

Disc 1

1. Seven Days Too Long – Chuck Wood
2. Sliced Tomatoes – Just Brothers
3. Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
4. Losing Boy – Eddie Giles
5. Wade In The Water – Ramsey Lewis Trio
6. Bring Your Love Back – Linda Lyndell
7. Sister Lee – Sam Ward
8. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Jackie Wilson
9. Do You Love Me – The Contours
10. Money (That’s What I Want) – Barrett Strong
11. You Keep Me Hanging On – The Supremes
12. The Girl Across The Street – Moses Smith
13. Nothing Can Help You Now – Lenny Curtis
14. I’ll Do Anything (He Wants Me To) – Doris Troy
15. Jimmy Mack – Martha & The Vandellas
16. This Old Heart of Mine – The Isley Brothers
17. Try It Baby – Marvin Gaye
18. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – Soloman Burke
19. Helpless – Kim Weston
20. Uptight (Everything’s Alright) – Stevie Wonder
21. Leaving Here – Eddie Holland
22. Cool Jerk – The Capitols
23. Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I – The Velvelettes
24. Going To A Go-Go – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
25. How Sweet IS It To Be Loved by You – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
26. Put Yourself In My Place – The Elgins
27. Every Little Bit Hurts – Brenda Holloway
28. Time Is On My Side – Irma Thomas

Disc 2

1. Moonlight, Music & You – Laura Greene
2. Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Frank Wilson
3. Soul Time – Shirley Ellis
4. The Snake – Al Wilson
5. Bari Track – Doni Burdick
6. Out On The Floor – Dobie Gray
7. You Don’t Love Me – Epitome Of Sound
8. Just A Little Misunderstanding – The Contours
9. A Lot Of Love – Homer Banks
10. Long After Tonight Is All Over – Jimmy Radcliffe
11. Time Will Pass You By – Tobi Legend
12. Lonely For You Baby –Sam Dees
13. Come On Train – Don Thomas
14. Girls Are Out To Get You – The Fascinations
15. You Shook Me Up – Roy Hamilton
16. Get Ready – The Miracles
17. Landslide – Tony Clarke
18. Hit & Run – Rose Batiste
19. Breakin’ Down The Walls Of Heartache – The Bandwagon
20. Looking For You – Garnet Mimms
21. Here I Go Again – Archie Bell & The Drells
22. 1-2-3 – Len Barry
23. He Was Really Saying Something – The Velvelettes
24. Come See About Me – The Supremes
25. There’s Nothing Else To Say – The Incredibles
26. Get Out Of Life Woman – Lee Dorsey
27. Whatcha Gonna Do About It – Doris Troy
28. Cry Baby – Garnet Mimms & The Encharters
29. Big Bird – Eddie Floyd
30. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright – P.P. Arnold

A playlist for this complication could not be produced due to one or more songs not being available on Spotify. 

I have tried listening to records by BIlly Bragg and Wilco released without each other, but there was something about them that meant they were never quite made my shopping list. However, I was quite surprised when listening to Bob Geldof on XFM that a song came on which I instantly fell in love with. This was 1998 so I hoped that he would say who the artist was at the end of the record because this was before the internet had really caught on so if I missed it, there was no way I could look it up afterwards to find out who it was. To my (pleasant) surprise, he said that it was Billy Bragg and Wilco. My interest was peaked. 

Going a local record shop (these existed in 1998) and buying the CD (this wasn’t released on vinyl in the UK at that time), I gave it a spin and fell in love with it. The limited sleeves notes in the accompanying booklet told me that all of the lyrics had been written by left wing songwriter Woody Guthrie. In the years since his death, his daughter Nora had been running an archive of her father’s work which included over a thousand sets of lyrics that Guthrie had not recorded himself. Nora had an idea of having a number of contemporary artists record these songs to these lyrics and had asked Billy Bragg to come on board after he had taken part in a Woodie Guthrie tribute concert. Braggs reputation as a left wing activist may also have helped Nora make this decision. Guthrie did not write music and apart from some vague notation, there was little in the way of clues as to what these songs should sound like. The reason these songs were left in this state was down to the fact that Guthrie was suffering from Huntington’s disease, which causes the sufferer to lack co-ordination. That and an injury to his arm in the mid 50’s meant he could no longer play his guitar. Guthrie continued to write lyrics until he was unable to hold a pencil. The songs Guthrie was writing ranged from politics, his fantasy’s about actress Ingrid Bergman, nonsense songs for children and reflections on his own childhood.  

Bragg did not gather together a cast of contemporary musicians to help work on this project apart from American band Wilco, who were given their own set of lyrics to work on. Natalie Merchant also came on board to provide vocals on a couple of the songs. It was mentioned at the time that there was enough material in the can for another album and in 2000, a second volume was released. It was easy to tell that the A-grade material was used on Volume 1, but this was still a good album. It was when the second collection came out that I put together a compilation taking what I considered to be the best tunes from both of these volume into one extended edition. In 2012, a compilation was released that contained Volumes 1 & 2, along with a third disc of additional outtakes. I did not feel that any of these songs were strong enough to make appearance on this collection, which I had been playing off and on since 2000.  

Billy Bragg and Wilco would not be the only artists to make an album using unused Woody Guthrie lyrics. The Klezmatics would release two albums in 2006, Jonatha Brooke in 2008 and Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker with Jim James in 2012. This has also lead to other artists such Sandy Denny having their own archives of unreleased lyrics set to music by modern musicians and released as albums. 

The cover is the same as the one used for Volume 1. It did not feel the need anything added to it. The entire collection is available to listen to via Spotify. Enjoy. 

1. I Was Born
2. Walt Whitman’s Niece
3. California Stars
4. Way Over Yonder In A Minor Key
5. Birds & Ships
6. Hoodoo Voodoo
7. Ingrid Bergman
8. Secret Of The Sea
9. I Guess I Planted
10. At My Window Sad & Lonely
11. Hesitating Beauty
12. Another Man’s Done Gone
13. Hot Rod Hotel
14. Eisler On The Go
15. My Flying Saucer
16. All You Fascists
17. Joe Dimaggio Done It Again
18. Feed Of Man
19. Stetson Kennedy
20. Remember The Mountain Bed
21. Black Wind Blowing
22. Blood Of The Lamb
23. One By One
24. The Unwelcome Guest

Back in the early years of the 21st Century, there was a short lived series of compilation albums where each track was selected by a band or artist to showcase the music that influenced their own work. In response to this, I thought I would put my own series of compilation CDs together which would showcase a particular style of music that could be said to be very influential. On this volume, I focused on music that could be classed as funk and soul as well as being from (but not exclusively limited to) the 1970’s. Judging by the tracks on this first one, Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B etc could be said to have been influenced by what is on this compilation. There are also numerous samples taken from these tracks. I did a slight edit with track 1, ‘What’s Going On’ by Marvin Gaye as I took the introduction from the original album version and edited it to flow into the single mono mix. The single mix had a bit more punch for me (as well as distinctive fake ending). The second disc opens with ‘Ike’s Rap’ by Isaac Hayes, which I changed slightly so it fades in. The third disc concludes with ‘Inner City Blues’, which finishes with reprise of ‘What’s Going On’, brining the compilation full circle.

Disc 1

1. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye (Squire mix)
2. The Boss – James Brown
3. I Can’t Stand The Rain – Anne Peebles
4. Kissing my Love – Bill Withers
5. California Soul – Marlena Shaw
6. The Message – Cymande
7. Do The Funky Chicken – Rufus Thomas
8. Watts Breakaway – Johnny Otis Show
9. Shack Up (Part 1) – Banbarra
10. I Got The – Labi Siffre
11. Apache – Michael Viners Incredible Bongo Band
12. I Just Want To Celebrate – Rare Earth
13. What A Man – Linda Lyndell
14. Be Thankful For What You’ve Got – William DeVaughn
15. Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms) – The Detroit Emeralds
16. Hercules – Aaron Neville
17. Get Up & Get Down – The Dramatics
18. Supernatural Thing – Ben E. King
19. Higher Ground – Ellen Mcillwaine
20. Move On Up (Album Version) – Curtis Mayfield

Disc 2

1. Ike’s Rap – Isaac Hayes (Squire Mix)
2. Woman Of The Ghetto – Marlena Shaw
3. The Payback – James Brown
4. Respect Yourself – The Staple Singers
5. S.O.U.L. – Burning Spear
6. Are You My Woman (Tell Me So) – The Chi-Lites
7. Wicky Wacky – The Fatback Band
8. Everyman – Double Exposure
9. Hot Pants Road – The J.B.’s
10. Family Tree – The Family Tree
11. Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love) – The Delfonics
12. Back Stabbers – The O’Jays
13. Itch & Scratch (Part 1) – Rufus Thomas
14. I Think I’d Do It – Z. Z. Hill
15. Cramp Your Style – All The People
16. Summer Madness – Kool & The Gang
17. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) – The Temptations
18. Inside My Love (Album Version) – Minnie Ripperton
19. I Forgot To Be Your Lover – William Bell
20. I Can’t Write Left Handed – Bill Withers
21. It’s A Shame – Detroit Spinners

Disc 3

1. Right On For The Darkness – Curtis Mayfield
2. Funky President (People It’s Bad) – James Brown
3. Cross The Track (We Better Go Back) – Maceo & The Macks
4. Down On The Avenue (Slow Ride) – Fat Larry’s Band
5. The Bottle – Gill Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
6. We Are Neighbours – The Chi-Lites
7. Low Rider – War
8. Sing A Simple Song – Please
9. Get Me Back on Time – Wilson Picket
10. Do The Funky Chicken (Part 2) – Rufus Thomas
11. Chicken Yellow – Miami
12. Express Yourself – Charles Wright & The Watts 103^rd Street Rhythm Band
13. Born to Live With Heartache – Mary Love
14. Impeach The President – The Honeydrippers
15. I Walk On Gilded Splinters – Johnny Jenkins
16. Mighty Mighty Spade & Whitey – The Impressions
17. The Assembly Line – The Commodores
18. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) – Marvin Gaye 

A play list could not be completed for this compilation due to the unavailability of one on more songs on Spotify.