Blondie will release Vivir En La Habana in July, an ‘official soundtrack’ to a new short film capturing the band’s 2019 live debut performance in Havana, Cuba.
The band was invited to perform as part of a cultural exchange through the Cuban Ministry of Culture. The four-day event was filmed (naturally) and the documentary is being premiered in June in the UK, at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, and in North America at the Tribeca Festival.
‘The Tide Is High’ – Live in Havana, 2019
For some reason, the soundtrack is only a six-track EP. It will be pressed on limited edition blue vinyl (there is no CD – don’t blame the messenger!) and it includes versions of the hits ‘The Tide Is High’, ‘Rapture’, ‘Dreaming’ and ‘Heart of Glass’.
The film Blondie:Vivir En La Habana is expected to be released later this year. No news, as yet, on the “first authorised Blondie archival box set” which the band have been promising since September 2018, although it is supposed to be happening this year, perhaps late summer.
Vivir En La Habana will be released on 16 July 2021.
SDE examines the 6CD+2blu-ray box set and is deeply impressed
In many ways, the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album (from here on in referred to simply as Plastic Ono Band) seems, at first, an odd choice to expand as a super deluxe edition box set. The 11-track album is a stripped-back affair, largely recorded by a three-piece band (John, Ringo and old pal from Hamburg, Klaus Voormann), with many tracks sounding as if they were knocked out in all but a handful of takes.
This turns out not to be the case, and the relatively simplistic treatment of the material on the final album belies the effort involved. By way of example, John persevered with an incredible 94 takes of opener, ‘Mother’. He tried it on piano, on guitar, there are overdubs, a verse cut and pasted from one take into another and of course the tolling funeral bells sound effect was added to the beginning (Lennon can be heard discussing this on one of the takes). It may not sound like anything off Sgt. Pepper but the effort and application involved wasn’t so different. Like Pepper, Plastic Ono Band was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Originally conceived by Yoko Ono back in 1967, Plastic Ono Band was a conceptual idea of a ‘band’ on stage that consisted of tape recordings, record players and other such items in plastic boxes. No actual human musicians were involved. John loved the concept, gave it its name and decided that the 1969 ‘Give Peace A Chance’ single should be issued under the name Plastic Ono Band, “a conceptual group that only exists in the mind”. The flexibility of the concept meant John and Yoko could do anything they wanted and the collective offered John a freedom from the constraints of The Beatles and the tacit ‘reverse democracy’ agreement (where any one member could, in theory, veto an idea). Indeed, the Plastic Ono Band’s second single, the non-album ‘Cold Turkey’ (issued in July 1969 between ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ and ‘Something’), was said to have been rejected by Paul McCartney as a possible Fabs single.
Cold Turkey new stereo mix from the box set
That track was recorded by Eric Clapton and the core trio that performed on John’s Plastic Ono Band album of 1970. Drummer Alan White was briefly a member when they played their short live set for the Live Peace Toronto 1969 performance and also offered a memorable contribution to February 1970 single ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’, along with George Harrison and Billy Preston. By comparison, the debut single ‘Give Peace A Chance’ was effectively John and Yoko and an audience of journalists and various celebrities at their ‘bed in’ in Montreal.
Plastic Ono Band was the first of only five solo albums John recorded under his own name. It was issued in December 1970 and contains no UK singles, although ‘Mother’ was released in America. The album was commercially overshadowed by Imagine, which followed less than nine months later, but it is generally – and correctly – regarded as John’s best work outside The Beatles, and arguably might be considered the best work by any ex-Beatle. While Paul retreated to Scotland in that post-Beatles period at the very start of the Seventies, and sought solace in family and nature, John undertook Primal Therapy sessions with Arthur Janov, initially in England and then, over the summer months of 1970, in Los Angeles. Janov’s Primal Therapy is to do with “the traumas you’ve undergone in the womb, at birth, in infancy and childhood”. According to the renowned therapist, John “responded very well because he had an enormous amount of pain”.
This pain resulted from issues of abandonment, absence, and loss. As is well documented, John’s mother Julia handed him over to her sister Mary Smith (‘Aunt Mimi’) at a young age, after a failed marriage and concerns over John’s welfare. His Merchant Seaman father, Alfred, was simply not around for most of the child’s upbringing. In 1958, Julia was killed by an off-duty police officer in a road traffic accident. John was 17 at the time of her death.
The songs on Plastic Ono Band almost entirely deal with these issues, to one degree or another. ‘Mother’ is the most obvious example, but ‘Isolation’, ‘Working Class Hero’, ‘I Found Out’, ‘Look at Me’ and ‘My Mummy’s Dead’ don’t pull any punches.
One thing I really appreciate about the early part of John’s career is that he didn’t appear to care about perception. He was happy to blur the lines and have Ringo play on every track on his first solo album, and ask George to play on Imagine, too. Of course, Plastic Ono Band bass player Klaus Voorman was rooted deep in Beatles mythology. So the album wasn’t entirely a clean break, in that sense, but what did he care? These were musicians he loved and he knew could do the job.
McCartney may have been ultimately in the right when it came to his issues with Allen Klein and the you-never-give-me-your-money saga, but the collateral damage – in terms of friendships – was significant and Paul must surely regret that unlike Ringo and George, he never again got the opportunity to work professionally with his old songwriting partner. John didn’t share Paul’s determination to prove he could start again with a new band and a fresh group of musicians and didn’t feel like he had to put any distance between himself and his old chums (except with Paul himself!).
It doesn’t sound like a bundle of laughs, on paper, but one of the extraordinary things about the new eight-disc super deluxe edition (actually called ‘The Ultimate Collection’) of Plastic Ono Band is that it both reminds us what an outstanding album it is but also allows us to put an ear to the studio wall and hear how much fun John, Ringo and Klaus had recording it. The box set is truly astonishing in scope and depth and we should discuss exactly what it offers the listener. I should say at this point in time if you are the sort of person who “doesn’t see the point” in listening to different versions/takes/renditions of the same set of songs then this isn’t the box set for you.
The approach for Plastic Ono Band is similar to Imagine, where the audio is looked at from many different viewpoints, specifically:
THE ULTIMATE MIXES are about “the best possible recreations of the originals” albeit following Yoko’s desire for increased clarity in John’s vocals and making the sound ‘sonically clearer’.
THE ELEMENTS MIXES are about highlighting and revealing elements of the mixes otherwise buried or unused. These might include guide vocals left on the multi-tracks, overdubs rejected, or even removing effects or reverb.
THE RAW STUDIO MIXES strip away the “sound shaping techniques that were used in the production of the original 1970 album” and give the listening the rough, unpolished diamond.
THE EVOLUTION MIXES are like mini-documentaries which explore the development of each song, running through edited highlights of the sessions chronologically. These include a lot of in-studio chatter, breakdowns, some laughter and are a fascinating insight to the recording of each song.
THEDEMOS are seven of the album tracks are revealed as intimate home recordings, with the rest either studio demos or early takes.
On top of all that are some old rock ’n’ roll Jams and some Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band Live Sessions (exclusive to the blu-ray).
If you want an illustration of the effort involved from the team who put this together, consider the last track on the album, ‘My Mummy’s Dead’. That song was never attempted in the studio, but rather John recorded it, twice, onto a standard domestic cassette tape at the house he was renting with Yoko in Bel Air, California while they were undergoing Primal Therapy. So there’s not much they can really do with that, right? Wrong! For the original album version the recording was sped up slightly and EQ’d to sound like it was coming from an old transistor radio. However, for this Plastic Ono Band box set, this is what they have done: For the The Outtakes disc they have included take 2 (the album version is take 1) and sped it up and applied the EQ so that it sounds like the album version. The Elements Mix loses the EQ settings on the original but maintains the increased speed. And finally the original cassette recordings with no processing applied are included on The Demos (take 2) and The Raw Studios Mixes (take 1). On top of that they re-transferred the audio from the 50-year old original cassette rather than relying on what’s in the existing archive. Truly amazing.
The original ‘My Mummy’s Dead’ cassette tape
The word I keep coming back to is ‘forensic’. The level of detail is incredible and there is just so much to enjoy. Unlike bootlegs which often just include multiple takes for the sake of it with no rhyme or reason, with an official release like this one, the curators and compilers have the luxury of listening to everything, including the most interesting stuff, and then they tell you why it’s interesting (via the superb 132-page book).
The Element Mixes are a great example of this. They’ve scoured the multi-tracks for interesting and largely unused ‘elements’ and this disc highlights this, allowing listeners the opportunity to hear what could have been.
So for example, ‘Mother’ is acappella, ‘Hold On’ showcases two vocals which were left unused, ‘I Found Out’ features a conga overdub that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor and ‘Working Class Hero’ is the unedited master recording (take 9) where John apparently forgot to sing the third verse (the missing verse was edited in a few weeks later). ‘Isolation’ features an organ throughout rather than piano; ‘Remember’ runs for four minutes longer (no abrupt stop on “the fifth of November”) and includes a previously unused double-tracked vocal; and ‘God’ uses a completely different guide vocal, which is amazing to hear. All of the discs include variations of the three singles, too (‘Give Peace A Chance’, ‘Cold Turkey’ and ‘Instant Karma!’). On The Elements Mixes, ‘Cold Turkey’ is an instrumental and ‘Instant Karma!’ is an alternate mix that doesn’t include any of the echo and reverb on John’s voice. This is just one disc out of eight in the box set!!
The Raw Studio Mixes CD (disc 4) offer the entire album in ‘raw’ form and consists of mostly alternate and extended takes. It includes take 64/93 of ‘Mother’ on piano, but also take 91, where John plays the song on guitar (which is also how it’s demo’d on the demo disc). This version of ‘Mother’ is one of three ’outtake’ Raw Studio Mix Outtakes on CD, but the blu-ray goes much further and includes 11 more outtakes in ‘Raw Studio’ form.
The Evolution Mixes are, for me, the highlight of this set and really do give a true flavour of the recording sessions. These ‘mini-documentaries’ explore the development of each song and include lots of chatter between John, Ringo and Klaus and the recording engineers. The thing that really strikes me is that despite the bleakness of the content of the songs, John was on great form. He left the tortured artist at the door. With the Imagine sessions I always feel that John came across as slightly grumpy and under a bit of pressure, what with the filming and having a room full of many players, but there’s a real intimacy with Plastic Ono Band and John is open, honest and full of his self-deprecating humour.
At one point, he discusses how to put the bell on at the beginning of ‘Mother’. “All you have to do is count it in…” says Ringo. John’s not convinced: “By the time I’ve counted it, and all that, I’ve forgotten what I’m doing. Is there some way we can count back and put that bell on another time, Phillip? [Phil McDonald, one of the engineers] Because I get too confused. I’m supposed to get in the mood… not [worry about] all that technical shit”.
The new stereo mix of ‘Hold On’ from the box set
There’s lots of joking. Plenty of “fucking hells” when someone (mostly John) fluffs something. Lennon gently reprimands Ringo for coming in early on a take of ‘Hold On’ (“ah, now come on. You keep jumping in… you’re doing one ahead of time”) only to realise he’s wrong and Ringo is coming it exactly where he should (“…oh, I see”). ‘Hold On’ is less than two minutes on the album, but runs for nearly nine minutes in its Evolution incarnation, to give you a feel for the scope of these versions.
Phil Spector turned up a couple of weeks late for the Plastic Ono Band sessions, something John darkly alludes to in an early version of ‘Isolation’, when he says “if we had a producer, he’d say ‘carry on’, or something but we can’t find that drunken junkie…”
‘Remember’ starts with a Tittenhurst demo and then breaks into a speedy version, at which John laughs, shouting over the music: “Facking hell, s’getting a bit fast, isn’t it? Now lookee here…” and then demonstrates the pacing on his piano, adding “I got a little beat for you boys and girls and I’d like to keep it something like this…”. Amazingly, George Harrison drops in during one session (on 9 October, John’s 30th birthday) and this can be heard on the tape, although it’s frustratingly short.
There is so much more to enjoy with this box set. The album proper is a new stereo remix, it’s also mixed to 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos. There are ‘maps’ of the soundstage in the book which are fascinating. Don’t expect too much action in the rear channels, Plastic Ono Band was after all an eight-track recording (and sometimes they aren’t even all used). These mixes are on one of two blu-rays that accompany the six CDs (everything on the CDs – and more – is on the blu-ray discs). Only the album and the three singles are in surround, everything else on the blu-ray is hi-res stereo. But it is very hi-res: 192 kHz / 24 bit.
Despite offering some different songs, the rock ’n’ roll ‘Jams’ are probably the weakest element and more or less as you’d expect. Don’t get too excited at seeing ‘Get Back’ and ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ on the track listing, they are both very brief instrumental snatches and not anything close to an actual ‘performance’ of either Beatles’ song.
A spread from the 132-page hardcover book included with the box set
A word on the book. It’s magnificent. Yoko gives a short introduction and then after a brief history it goes through song-by-song, starting with the three singles. The approach is to give you the historical background of each song with era-appropriate photos and then follow that with quite a lot of technical detail about the recording sessions for that particular track. These notes always link to what is on each disc of the box set, so you can refer back to the book to understand what you are listening to at any particular time, on any particular disc. The audio would be fascinating anyway, but knowing which take is which and why certain things are happening, and what was going on in the room on the day, makes all the difference. There are pictures of tape boxes, images of recording sheets, detailed credits, some amazing photos (including one of George Harrison on the day he turned up, and John in Bel Air relaxing by the pool in the summer of 1970 after some Primal Therapy sessions). There is also full lyrics for all the songs.
It is hard, nigh on impossible, to think how the team that Yoko assembled to put this together – Simon Hilton, Paul Hicks, Sam Gannon, Rob Stevens, Matthew Cocker, Alex Wharton and Simon Gibson – could have done anything better. This Plastic Ono Band box set is a monumental achievement and eclipses any one-album box set I’ve ever come across. The album certainly deserves this attention and can take it. The songs are good enough. Together the blu-rays offer a staggering 519 minutes of audio from sessions that delivered an album that runs to less than 40 minutes. But it’s not boring! It really isn’t. And it’s worth every penny of what is fairly modest pricing, by some standards.
Sure, this is nerdy stuff, but if you are a Beatles or John fan it’s a real joy, especially those Evolution Mixes. It is quite moving at times to hear the musician and songwriter at work with his pals constructing what is easily his best album. Amongst the fun, it can be painful to hear the banter and the promise at the dawn of John’s solo career, knowing how things ended up, only a decade down the line. How he was denied; Yoko was denied; Paul was denied; we were all denied. We can only wonder at what could have been, but Plastic Ono Band is what was, and never has an ‘Ultimate Collection’ been more deserving of the name.
The Plastic Ono Band reissue is out now. For full track listings refer back to the original post.
Legendary label Trojan Records have announced that their classic 1971 compilation, The Trojan Story, will be reissued on CD and vinyl next month.
The Trojan Story was the first ‘various artists’ compilation of Jamaican music; a comprehensive anthology of the island’s musical development, featuring vintage ska, rock steady and reggae music.
The collection was the idea of Trojan’s label manager Rob Bell who, with the help of Dandy Livingstone, Webster Shrowder and Joe Sinclair, produced the three-disc set.
The 3LP vinyl edition of The Trojan Story (click image to enlarge)
50 years on, The Trojan Story is reissued as a 3LP vinyl edition and comes with a 50-page booklet with stories behind the songs from the likes of The Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Alton Ellis, Duke Reid, Desmond Dekker, The Ethiopians, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and many more. There are 50 tracks in total.
There is also a three-CD version which features the same track listing as its vinyl counterpart. You can see what that looks like, below.
The Trojan Story is reissued on 18 June 2021, via BMG.
The 3CD edition of The Trojan Story (click image to enlarge)
Tom Pettyand the Heartbreakers‘ 1996 soundtrack album Songs and Music from the Motion Picture ‘She’s the One’ has been remixed, remastered and ‘re-imagined’ and will be reissued in July as Angel Dream (Songs From The Motion Picture ‘She’s The One’).
The original album included several songs that were left off the original Wildflowers album (although included on last year’s reissue), although Ryan Ulyate (Tom’s long time engineer and producer) has remixed the audio and rejigged the song selection – the idea being that it is designed to work as a proper Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers album, rather than a soundtrack.
Angel Dream will be issued on CD in July (click image to enlarge)
The non-Petty tracks have been removed and four unreleased tracks have been added; the rocker ‘105 Degrees’ (written by Petty), a cover of JJ Cale’s ’13 Days’, ‘One of Life’s Little Mysteries’ (another Petty original), and an instrumental (‘French Disconnection’) in the same vein as the instrumentals on the original album. An extended version of “Supernatural Radio” is also included.
Angel Dream comes with new artwork and is released on CD on 2 July 2021. The vinyl is being ‘saved’ for this year’s Record Store Day (limited to 12,000 copies, so hopefully it should be relatively easy to get hold of).
All the format details, including bundles on the official store and various coloured vinyl exclusives. Amazon UK signed CD available again.
Duran Duran will release a new album, Future Past, in October.
The long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s Paper Gods is the band’s 15th studio album and features guest guitar work from Blur‘s Graham Coxon and piano from Mike Garson. Production duties have been handled by Erol Alkan, Mark Ronson (who has produced a song featuring Swedish singer/songwriter Lykkie Li) and disco-legend Giorgio Moroder.
The first single is Invisible which is ‘released’ today, although whether fans will be able to buy a physical copy remains to be seen. Remarkably, in the UK, the last time the band released a physical single from a current album was 14 years ago in 2007 (‘Falling Down’, from Red Carpet Massacre).
With the new album coming out via BMG, Future Past is also the fourth consecutive Duran studio album to be released on a different record label, with 2007’s Red Carpet Massacre issued on Epic, All You Need Is Now (2010/11) put out via Tape Modern and Paper Gods on Warners.
Initially available to pre-order via the band’s official store, Future Past formats include an exclusive green coloured vinyl, deluxe CD with three bonus tracks and a few different bundles (signed prints are no longer available).
Amazon UK still have a deluxe CD with signed insert (UK only).
White vinyl is the ‘standard’ version of Future Past, red vinyl is indie version and Green vinyl is the Duran store exclusive. I’m sure there will be more ad hoc coloured versions announced as exclusives via the usual retail suspects.
The six year gap between the new record and Paper Gods is the longest ever between Duran Duran albums and sadly fans will have to be patient since despite today’s announcement, Future Past is not released until 22 October 2021, via BMG.
You might also be interested in SDE’s exclusive booklet Arcadia: The Story of So Red The Rose, This 24-page A4 booklet features over 9,000 words of new interviews from Nick Rhodes, Carlos Alomar, Andy Mackay, Mark Egan and contains newly commissioned illustrations. “A terrific read” – tweeted by Duran Duran
Order at the SDE shop via this link, or use the button below.
R.E.M. are to reissue their debut single, ‘Radio Free Europe’, in July.
Recorded in Mitch Easter’s parents’ converted garage in April 1981 – along with ‘Sitting Still’ and ‘White Tornado’ – the song was part of early demo cassette that was copied and distributed to clubs, journalists and labels.
It came to the attention of Jonny Hibbert, who owned the Atlanta-based indie label, Hib-Tone. He put ‘Radio Free Europe’ out as the band’s first single backed with ‘Sitting Still’.
Since there were some overdubs and both tracks were newly mixed by Hibbert, ‘Radio Free Europe’ exists in three versions: the original Mitch Easter mix (on the cassette), the Hibbert mix on the Hib-Tone single and the 1983 IRS re-recording for R.E.M.’s debut album, Murmur.
Craft have recreated the original 7″ of ‘Radio Free Europe’
Craft Recordings will reissue ‘Radio Free Europe’ in its original format – as a 45-RPM single, housed in a jacket featuring photography by Michael Stipe. As a nod to the band’s hometown, the single was pressed in Athens, GA at Kindercore Vinyl.
Craft are also reissuing R.E.M.’s 1981 demonstration tape—titled Cassette Set. This is being made commercially available for the first time and will replicate the original packaging, which was self-assembled by the band, using photocopied cardstock for the J-card inlays and handwritten cassette labels by Stipe. This tape is the only way to get the original Easter mix of ‘Radio Free Europe’.
‘Cassette Set’ recreates the original demo tape
If you are wondering how you would play this tape, then R.E.M. have the solution (!) since in a special bundle via the R.E.M. store they are offering a limited edition portable cassette player (produced by Recording the Masters). These are limited to 500 worldwide (now sold out).
Radio Free Europe is reissued on 23 July 2021. The label say that these reissues “mark the first of many special releases around R.E.M.’s 40th-anniversary celebrations”.
Superb price for one of the best box sets of 2020. This Lou Reed deluxe has everything: Remaster, outtakes/demos, previously unreleased live version of the album on CD and a DVD with ‘The New York’ album. AND it comes with a 2LP vinyl version and a large format booklet.
The cheapest price to date for the superb super deluxe featuring the 2019 stereo remix, two discs of outtakes and Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes on blu-ray.
A good price because this triple vinyl deluxe edition of Flaming Pie is incredibly lavish. It includes the gatefold 2LP half-speed mastered vinyl of the album with 16-page lyric book. This slots into an outer slip case alongside a bonus LP of 11 home recordings. The only other place to get these home recordings on vinyl is the £500 collector’s edition box set!
Depeche Mode / Anton Corbijn/Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijnbook
Another great Elton John vinyl offer. Tracklisting: EMPTY SKY, LADY SAMANTHA, BORDER SONG, MY FATHER’S GUN, ALL THE NASTIES, I THINK I’M GOING TO KILL MYSELF, PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM, SONG FOR GUY, SARTORIAL ELOQUENCE, ELTON’S SONG, COLD AS CHRISTMAS (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR), I FALL APART, AMAZES ME, THE LAST SONG, AMERICAN TRIANGLE, (I’M GONNA) LOVE ME AGAIN Elton John and Taron Egerton
Ian Dury & the Blockheads/Do It Yourself2CD+DVD+coloured vinyl box
Original Album on 180g Magnolia Coloured Vinyl – cut from the original master tapes. The two CDs and DVD containing all of the singles, B-sides, demos, videos, and live concert – Rock Goes to College: Ian Dury & The Blockheads in concert at Queen’s University, Belfast. 3rd February 1979. Choose your own front cover from all of the 34 original sleeves designed by the legendary graphic artist Barney Bubbles.
The Bangles/Doll Revolution2LP opaque purple vinyl
New Order are to issue last year’s ‘Be A Rebel’ single on 12-inch and CD single with loads of remixes, including a new one by the legend that is Arthur Baker.
The song, an outtake from 2015’s Music Complete album, was issued last November on vinyl with three additional remixes.
‘Be A Rebel’ Arthur Baker Remix
The new edition goes way beyond that and includes a wealth of remixes, including some unreleased, re-workings that were put out digitally (including Mark Reeder’s Dirty Devil Remix) and the new Arthur Baker version.
The CD single includes a whopping 13 remixes, while the double-pack 12-inch offers eight.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the album, SDE takes this opportunity to revisit the review of the deluxe box set from 2012.This also appeared in last year’s out-of-print McCartney: 10 Years of Archive Reissues booklet.
Paul McCartney‘s 1971 album, although credited to Paul and Linda, is perhaps the record that best shows off the unbounding and unbridled talents of the ex-Beatle. Ram is McCartney’s solo ‘time-capsule’ album, full of wit, energy and musical diversions (‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’) that could only come from him, with a spattering of songs where he simply finds an extra gear and delivers a classic – ‘Too Many People’, ‘Heart Of The Country’ and ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’.
For better or for worse, Ram has McCartney’s DNA all over it. It is endlessly melodic (‘Long Haired Lady’, ‘Dear Boy’), contains moments of silly wordplay (‘Smile Away’), and has a surreal highlight in ‘Monkberry Moon Delight’. The album confounds, with a maze of musical ideas; vocal harmonies, refrains, intros, outros, overdubs, sound effects, scat singing, and, perhaps uncharacteristically, there is a steeliness of purpose evident. Having soaked up a fair amount of criticism over his homespun debut McCartney (including some from his old bandmates), Paul was very much looking to Linda when it came to the next record, with what you might call an ‘it’s-just-you-and-me-kid’ attitude that echoes the feelings of the protagonists in album closer ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ – “We believe that we can’t be wrong…”.
This spirit and bond was strong. Paul and Linda were now a family unit with daughters Heather (from Linda’s previous marriage) and Mary (the one popping out of Paul’s jacket on the cover of the McCartney album). Paul wanted Linda involved in the music too. Her voice is all over the record, harmonising with Paul extensively; it is probably her most significant contribution to McCartney’s music. As well as the album being by “Paul and Linda McCartney”, she also gets a co-writing credit on six tracks.
New York, New York
Most of the songs were written on Paul’s newly acquired farm in Scotland during 1970, but unlike on McCartney, where Paul had played all the instruments himself, with Ram, Paul and Linda flew to New York later that same year to audition some top session musicians to play on the record. The ones chosen were drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken.
Non-album single ‘Another Day’ would be the first track from the Ram sessions that the public would hear. McCartney’s first post-Beatles 45, it peaked at number two in the UK and number five in the US. Interestingly, sound engineer Dixon Van Winkle admits, in an interview in the book within the deluxe box set, that he “got carried away trying to get the bass right”. This resulted in a very dense low-end to the song that didn’t sound great on the radio. Listen to it again; he’s got a point. Surely then, this reissue offered a great opportunity to present us with a remixed version of ‘Another Day’ that ‘gets it right’, but either Paul has never had a problem with how it sounds, or the idea wasn’t suggested, or wasn’t of interest. Pity. ‘Another Day’ and its B-side, ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why,’ both feature – newly remastered of course – on the bonus audio disc with the deluxe box.
An unlikely number one
The best known track from Ram is ‘Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey’. Incredibly, not only was this rather whimsical number selected as a US single, but it actually hit number one in the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in September 1971! It has been a staple of Macca compilations ever since, appearing on Wings Greatest (1978), All The Best! (US version – 1987) and Wingspan:Hits and History (2001). It is one of three tracks on the record orchestrated by Beatles producer George Martin (‘Long Haired Lady’ and ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ being the other two).
‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ from the James Paul McCartney TV special
Ram works so well for many reasons. McCartney’s voice is at, or near, its peak – everything sounds completely effortless, including the performance on the throat-shredding ‘Monkberry Moon Delight’, and the whole thing just feels so real. Paul wasn’t struggling for things to write about, whether it be the seemingly constant backbiting with Lennon or his new-found love of family life and spending time with his new wife. So the campfire positivity of ‘Ram On’ or the ode to fresh air that is ‘Heart Of The Country’ have meaning and that – coupled with a slight grungy, lo-fi production and excellent musicianship from those New York session guys – makes all the difference.
Boxing clever
So Ram is a truly great McCartney album. But what of the Ram deluxe box set – part four of ‘The Paul McCartney Archive Collection’? Well for a start it’s a box. The deluxe editions issued before Ram (including public favourite Band On TheRun) were ‘just’ books. Extremely well put together and delightful books, but books just the same. McCartney and McCartney II were issued in the summer of 2011, and since that time the market for deluxe or super deluxe sets had grown rapidly. The release of box sets such as the ‘Immersion’ editions of Pink Floyd’s The Dark SideOf The Moon and Wish You Were Here or the ‘Director’s Cut’ of The Who’s Quadrophenia had upped the ante somewhat.
Not wanting to miss out, the new Ram deluxe box consisted of a similar book as the previous editions but slightly smaller (and soft cover), an additional sketchpad type book with even more photos, an envelope containing glossy photos, a smaller envelope filled with replica pages of handwritten McCartney lyrics, doodles and jottings, a little ‘book of sheep’ – a small cutely-designed book of Linda’s photos of Paul with sheep from which the cover was derived – and five discs of audio and video! These are as follows:
Ram – Original album remastered
Bonus Audio– 8 tracks (B-sides and outtakes)
Thrillington– An easy-listening style orchestral version of Ram recorded in 1971 and released in 1977 under the pseudonym Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington (later reissued on CD – still under the pseudonym – in 1995).
Ram in Mono – Mono version of the album. Like The Beatles’ albums this is a unique ‘dedicated’ mix, not just the stereo version ‘folded down’ into mono. Unlike The Beatles records this had never been commercially available before.
DVD – Short documentary (Ramming) and promo films and videos.
All this fits into a box cleverly styled to look the same as previous books. The height and depth are identical, but girth-wise this set is carrying a few more pounds. Crucially, this looks like part of a continuing series and they all look good together on the shelf.
The mono mix of Ram was created to be played on AM radio and was never commercially released
Paul Sinclair, SDE
This attention to detail is typical of this set. The books provide a wealth of detail around the recording with, of course, dozens of evocative photos of Paul, both in the studio and on the farm. Interviews with drummer Denny Seiwell and studio engineer Dixon Van Winkle bring a different perspective to the making of the record and the whole thing is a real delight. Glossy ‘White Album’ style photos in the yellow wallet are a nice touch, even if the shots chosen are not necessarily the pick of the bunch.
‘The Little Book Of Sheep’ is cute – yes, not exactly on the wish list, but more relevant than a set of marbles!
Strictly speaking, there are only four unreleased tracks amongst the eight bonus songs. The much-bootlegged session track A Love For You was eventually issued 32 years later on The In-Laws soundtrack in 2003. That version was spoiled by a rather harsh “additional production” by David Kahne, but the version here sounds much more of the era, even if it was actually mixed in 1986 (by Jon Kelly) for possible inclusion on the All The Best! compilation of 1987 (keep up!). It’s really quite amazing how long it took Paul to officially release this song on one of his albums, but I feel it has been worth the wait.
‘A Love For You’ as featured on the Ram reissue
‘Rode All Night’ is an eight-minute guitar and drums jam with McCartney screaming ad-libbed lyrics over the top (it’s better than it sounds) and ‘Great Cock And Seagull Race’ and ‘Sunshine Sometime’ are both instrumentals. ‘Hey Diddle’ is a charming, if lightweight, ditty with McCartney in singing-to-entertain-the-kids mode. This is a studio version, unlike the live-in-the-garden version fused to ‘Bip Bop’ on the Wingspan compilation. B-sides ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’ and ‘Little Woman Love’ might be previously released but they remain – along with non-album single ‘Another Day’ – highlights of the bonus disc.
Ram in mono
The only place you will find a digital copy of the dedicated mono mix is on CD in this box set. It is not available to download; the only other way to get hold of it is to buy the limited edition mono vinyl reissue of Ram. This disc is really for the Ram fanatics. You have to know the album pretty well to spot the differences, but they are there. ‘Monkberry Moon Delight’ has a fair degree of reverb on Paul’s vocals not present on the stereo version, for example, and there is a little bit less bottom end throughout, with Paul’s voice ‘cutting through’ some of the mixes better (this is particularly evident on the “We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert” intro to ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’). This makes sense given that the mono mix was created to be played on AM radio. It was never commercially released.
Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington
The bizarre orchestral/easy listening version of Ram that is Thrillington was McCartney’s idea, although he doesn’t perform on it. It’s fairly cheesy – ‘Eat At Home’ gets a reggae/steel drum arrangement and ‘3 Legs’ sounds like the soundtrack to a dodgy ’70s porn film. ‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ threatens to sound ‘cool’ for a moment (think soundtrack to Taxi Driver) but is a bit bombastic in the end. It’s not surprising that Thrillington was bundled with the Ram deluxe box (where else was it going to go?), but it remains an album to own rather than listen to!
‘Eat at Home’ from the Thrillington album.
The DVD included with the Ram box set is 27 minutes long, and two of the videos (‘Heart Of The Country’ and ‘3 Legs’) are basically the same! ‘Hey Diddle’ has great audio and picture quality – and Ramming is a sweet little documentary in the same style as the one on the McCartney deluxe DVD. The highlight, though, is the ‘Eat At Home On Tour’ footage. Some of this is from Denny Seiwell’s archive – fantastic ‘Super 8’ footage of the second Wings tour – Summer Holiday-style with a Wings open-top double decker bus with the band, bikini-clad ladies, and toddlers, in playpens all larking around on the top deck as the bus drives along! Hilarious. Also, there is some good footage of ‘Eat At Home’ being performed live (the 2018 Paul McCartney and Wings1971-73 super deluxe would cover this Wings OverEurope tour in much more depth).
The three reissues that preceded Ram made clear that McCartney wasn’t interested in offering significant amounts of outtakes, alternate cuts, demos and the like, although that would change a little bit as future releases have shown. But for Ram, fans would need to be satisfied with the usual selection of B-sides and a smattering of unheard audio. Thrillington is, frankly, pointless, but it is part of the history of the album and thus earns its place in the deluxe box for that reason alone. The Mono version is a collector’s curiosity, but sounds fantastic all the same. There is no getting away from the fact that if you are a big Ram fan, then you are going to want this box set. It is brilliantly packaged, includes a fantastic remastering of the record, and the era is well documented in the books, with the ever-evocative photography of Linda McCartney. Recommended.
It’s the only Macca album creditedto ‘Paul and Linda McCartney’
Ram was recorded in NewYork, mostly in Oct/Nov 1970
Ram knocked The Rolling Stones’Sticky Fingers off the top of the UKalbum charts when it went straight in at#1 at the end of May 1971
John Lennon couldn’t resist adig at the cover which depictsPaul holding the horns of a male sheep(a Ram). When he released his Imaginealbum four months later, early pressingscame with a postcard of John holding apig in a similar style
As well as ‘Ram On’ Paul hasname-checked sheep in two othersongs: ‘Little Lamb Dragonfly’ and‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’. Animal-lovingMcCartney has also written songs aboutkoala bears, magpies, alligators, bisonand bluebirds.
‘The Back Seat Of My Car’ wasthe only UK single from Ram. Itstalled at #39
Less than a year after workingwith ‘Beatle Paul’ (recording ‘I MeMine’), George Martin helped solo Paulwith the orchestrations for ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’, ‘Long Haired Lady’ and‘The Back Seat Of My Car’
Aside from Paul and Linda, theonly other future Wings memberto play on Ram is Denny Seiwell
The entire album was mixed andsequenced by Eirik ‘The Norwegian’Wangberg in LA in March 1971
Steve Hoffman remasteredRam in 1993 for a DCC CompactClassics 24 Karat Gold compact disc
Sadly, the 2012 Ram deluxe box is now out of print, but the new limited edition half-speed vinyl remaster of the album was released yesterday. It is only available via indie retailers such as the SDE shop.
One of the things that ‘happened’ this week was George Michael‘s Older album turned 25. There are lots of interesting things to say about this record. First off, George was only 32 when he released it. Who’d have thought at that time that he’d have only ONE more studio album of self-penned material left in him? What a waste.
The other thing worth highlighting – although most people of a certain age in the UK will remember this well – is just how successful it was. His Faith album was a monster in America (just the four number one singles…) but it underperformed in the UK, relatively speaking. There’s no other way of looking at it. George’s two previous solo singles (‘Careless Whisper’ and ‘A Different Corner’ had both reached the top-spot in Britain, as had ‘(I Knew You Were) Waiting For Me’, his 1987 duet with Aretha Franklin. And he had four number ones with Wham!. There’s no way anyone was expecting him not to have a bunch of chart-toppers from his first solo album, but it only delivered two really big hits ‘I Want Your Sex’ and ‘Faith’ and neither reached number one.
It’s weird; George transitioned from more or less owning the number one spot in the UK singles chart to, by the time of 1990’s Listen Without Prejudice, being someone who had hit albums but didn’t really chart well with singles. Only one of the five singles from that second solo album went in the UK top 20 (‘Praying For Time’, #6). Everything else could be badged ‘minor hit’, including ‘Freedom 90’ which only reached number 28 (‘Cowboys and Angels’ didn’t even get in the top 40!). Some of this can be put down to George’s ‘I don’t want to make/be in videos, anymore’ stance, but it’s still a curious situation.
While he recovered some ground with two early ’90s duets (one with Elton and one with Queen) by the time of Older, only a brave man would have predicted he’d have SIX top three singles from one album. When Jesus To A Child went to number one, it was George’s first solo number one single in TEN YEARS. Fastlove repeated the feat and it was clear George was back, back, back! He was making videos again, actively participating in his own career and could suddenly do no wrong. Example: The single ‘Older’ got to number three. How? It may have included new material in the form of a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ along with some decent bonus remixes of ‘The Strangest Thing’, but it’s a very slow, jazzy, maudlin number, and it charted 23 places higher than ‘Freedom 90’.
‘Spinning the Wheel’ and ‘Star People ’97’ both got to number two, as did ‘You Have Been Loved’. The latter (co-written by George Michael’s now ‘manager’ David Austin) would probably have had no chance, but Princess Diana had died almost exactly a week before the single was released and the British public decided it was the perfect tribute.
All this singles activity, over a long period of time (‘You Have Been Loved’ was issued 21 months after ‘Jesus to a Child’) made Older George’s biggest selling album in the UK. It has sold 1.8m copies – more than both Faith and Listen Without Prejudice.
If the album is 25 years old, the question must be are we going to see an anniversary reissue? One would hope so (the original vinyl goes for hundreds on Discogs) but so far we’ve only had hints and promises from GM’s official social channels and as SDE has commented before, their idea of ‘exciting news’ often differs from fans.
I was unimpressed that they didn’t even mention the album’s birthday on Thursday, when others were mentioning it. The next day they tweeted that “there’s also something very special to come later this year…”
“Older is my greatest moment”. Celebrating 25 years this month. There’s also something very special to come later this year…
— George Michael Official (@GeorgeMOfficial) May 14, 2021
Make of that what you will, but let’s just say I’m not filled with confidence. The Estate have been ‘working’ on reissuing George’s Symphonica album on vinyl since late 2019. This is an album that was only released seven years ago and it’s not as if it wasn’t available on vinyl at the time, because it was. So why would anyone in George’s team even want to work on this as some kind of priority? And if you are going take on a reissue project that no one is interested in, then just do it! Get it out and move on to the next thing.
There’s the two issues neatly summarised. George’s team are not choosing the right reissue projects (if indeed ‘reissue project’ is in their vocabulary) and they cannot deliver anything in a timely manner. The day-late acknowledgement of Older‘s birthday tells you all you need to know. And I’ll warrant they haven’t really worked out what the “something very special” even is at this point in time. If it’s a physical product, the perfect time to announce it is on the anniversary date. But they didn’t do that because, presumably, they aren’t ready.
I will be happy to be proved wrong, but I think the best we can hope for later this year is a vinyl reissue of Older. But I’m not even sure that will happen, because there is a six-month lead time on vinyl at the moment and if it were to be issued in, say, November this year, all the work would have needed to be done already and the job submitted. I don’t think we’ll get an expanded box set or deluxe edition, either. I honestly believe that, in the minds of those who have control of George’s legacy, a CD box set full of rarities is not what they consider to be an exciting project. Never have the fans and those in control of the output been so misaligned.
What you would like to see next? Let the Estate/label know by completing the SDE poll below.
It’s interesting to note their release strategy has changed a little bit. With the last album Resistance is Futile, the band offered it on their own shop initially and then waited almost two months before giving fans the ability to pre-order through channels like Amazon, JPC, HMV and other independent retailers.
This time around the various products were everywhere, more or less simultaneously. Many of you noted that that UK shipping, via the Manics shop, for the two-CD deluxe of The Ultra Vivid Lament were outrageous. £7.50 for UK first class is at least double what it should be. The SDE shop has a £2.50 second class option for the same item (or tracked 48 for £5)
Shipping charges have definitely increased worldwide, but within the UK prices have not gone up to the same extent and it’s disappointing to see the label happy to charge half the price of the item for shipping. They are already making more money per unit by selling the product direct to fans, so it feels wrong. Blame Kontraband Merch the ‘full services music merchandise company’ who are running the Manics’ shop. This ‘D2C’ operation is owned by Sony!
Incidentally, the indies-only vinyl LP with seven-inch version of The Ultra Vivid Lament is very limited. I know this because Sony are negotiating small allocations to the indies, like the SDE shop, so if you are interested then get your order in.
Yes box set now even cheaper!
There was me wondering if Amazon France would honour the pre-orders for that mammoth YesUnion Live 30 box set (26 CDs and four DVDs). The price highlighted a few weeks back was about €146 but rather than adjust the price upwards, the French retailer has reduced it down to €105! That’s about £90! The same box is £245 on Amazon in the UK. Go figure. It’s out in around five weeks, so it’s squeaky bum time soon. Let’s see if they honour all the pre-orders (you will get the new, cheaper price, thanks to the pre-order guarantee!).
The Manic Street Preachers will release a new album called The Ultra Vivid Lament, in the autumn.
Their 14th studio long-player is described as “a record that gazes in isolation across a cluttered room, fogged by often painful memories, to focus on an open window framing a gleaming vista of land melting into sea and endless sky”.
‘Orwellian’ by Manic Street Preachers
You can preview what the actual music is like by listening to Orwellian, above.
The band are offering signed product from their store, although there’s an indies-only black vinyl LP that comes with an exclusive seven-inch of Orwellian, with a remix on the B-side that isn’t available on the Manics site. The SDE shop has a limited quantity. Amazon also have an exclusive yellow vinyl edition.
The 2CD deluxe bookset looks consistent with previous offerings and comes with a bonus disc of demos. There’s also a picture disc and a cassette.
The Ultra Vivid Lament will be released on 10 September 2021 (was 3 September).
Compare prices and pre-order
Manic Street Preachers
The Ultra Vivid Lament (Deluxe Edition 2CD - with Signed Insert) (Amazon Exclusive)
Chrysalis Records continue their reissue program of the UFO catalogue with 2LP vinyl and 2CD expanded editions of Force It. Originally released in 1975, Force It was UFO’s fourth studio album and like 1974’s ‘Phenomenon’, this was produced by Ten Years After’s Leo Lyons.
It was also their first album to chart in the US and contains many classic tracks still in their live set today, such as ‘Shoot Shoot’ and ‘Let It Roll’.
For the new deluxe editions, the album was remastered in 2020 by Andy Pearce, from the original production master tapes. Bonus material comes in the way of the studio outtake “A Million Miles” and the live set recorded at the Record Plant, Los Angeles in 1975, which is previously unavailable on vinyl.
The vinyl edition is a gatefold while the deluxe CD is a six-panel digipak. Both contain new sleeve notes written by Malcolm Dome.
A special limited edition ‘indies-only’ 2LP CLEAR vinyl pressing is being made available and this special edition can be ordered via the SDE shop, using this link or the button below.
Force It will be released on 10 September 2021 (was 9 July 2021).
Snowflake Midnight, the 2008 album from Mercury Rev will be reissued as a five-CD deluxe edition next month.
It was the seventh album from the band from Buffalo, New York and followed The Secret Migration from 2005 and All Is Dream (2001). The group was formed in 1989 but crossed over in 1998 with the much acclaimed Deserter’s Songs, which was a top 20 album in the UK.
The five-CD deluxe of Snowflake Midnight offers the original album on CD, a second disc of previously unissued outtakes, entitled Hymn Of The Heavenly Snowflake, a third disc called Snowflakes From A Train (more unheard material from the era) and a fourth CD of live material (previously unreleased). The fifth and final disc is Strange Attractor, what the band call the “silver astral sister” to the main album. This instrumental album was made available at the time on a limited edition 2LP set of Snowflake Midnight and as a download, but gets its CD debut on this new deluxe edition. Four bonus remixes from an old 12-inch EP are added.
This reissue is presented as a hardcover book edition and includes original album lyrics and new sleeve-notes by Martin Aston (Benz Mercedes, was clearly unavailable…). As with the other recent Mercury Rev reissues, this is “compiled and coordinated” by the band’s Jonathan Donaghue and Sean ‘Grasshopper’ Mackowiak.
Steven Wilson has today made available a new song called Anyone But Me.
This track was originally set to close The Future Bites (the album was actually mastered and cut with the song in place) but the delay in releasing the album (from June 2020 to January 2021) gave Wilson the opportunity for a rethink and he replaced it with what he describes as the “more laid back and atmospheric” song ‘Count of Unease’.
Lyrically it’s about how it’s now possible to present to the world a version of yourself via social media that may have no bearing on reality
Steven Wilson
A demo of Anyone But Me was actually included on the cassette – sorry, obsolete media – in the limited edition deluxe box set of The Future Bites, but this is the first time the full studio cut has been made available.
Steven Wilson had the following to say about Anyone But Me:
“Lyrically it’s about how it’s now possible to present to the world a version of yourself via social media that may have no bearing on reality – photos of yourself in places you’ve never been, hanging out with friends you’ve never met. It’s becoming more important to create the illusion of a desirable life on social media than it is to actually live it”.
‘Anyone But Me’
There is no news of a physical release for Anyone But Me, but SDE will keep its ear to the ground.
Personally, I think Steven made the wrong decision to remove it from the album. It’s a strong song and would have provided a rather sad and wistful ending to the album. What do you think? Leave a comment. As a reminder, here’s ‘Count of Unease’:
Anyone But Me credits: Steven Wilson – synthesisers, piano, hammond organ, acoustic guitar, bass, vocals David Kosten – programming Fyfe Dangerfield – vocals Michael Spearman – drums String arrangement by SW, performed by the London Session Orchestra conducted by Guy Protheroe
Van Morrison fans have taken to SDE and other forums to complain about the signed CDs which are available via Amazon in the UK.
Each CD comes with a five-inch square art card of the front cover of the album, and has Van Morrison’s signature on it in black ink. But fans are unhappy with what they claim are not genuine signatures. Those with access to multiple copies of the signed CD have highlighted that the signatures look identical.
The suggestion is that rather than Van Morrison signing the art cards individually, someone has made a ‘stamp’ of the signature and simply used that to imprint the signature on multiple art cards. That would of course result in identical-looking autographs on each card.
See the image below of two different art cards uploaded by SDE member Silca Sounds. The signature is in different places on each card, but look very similar, if not identical. SDE’s own copy of this has a signature which looks identical to the ones below, also.
These signatures are both “authentic and genuine”, according to Van Morrison’s management
There are a number of complaints on Amazon about this issue although some images uploaded do also have signatures that look different from those above.
SDE put these claims to the record label, BMG. They in turn contacted Van Morrison’s management and the following statement has been issued.
Dear customer,
We understand your concern with regard to Van Morrison’s signature as part of your recent order.
We have written confirmation from Van Morrison’s management that all signatures are authentic and genuine.
We hope this helps alleviate your concerns.
Many thanks
BMG/Van Morrison official store
So that’s clearly a stringent denial that anything untoward has happened. Is that the end of the matter, or if you bought a copy of the CD are you still unhappy? Leave a comment.
Latest Record Project, Volume 1 was released last week.
Described by the label as “one of her most intimate and direct albums yet”, you can preview ‘Already There’ from the 11-track album, below.
‘Already There’ from Consequences.
Signed CDs appear to be now sold out from either Amazon in the UK but are still available from the official Joan Armatrading shop. Joan’s store also offers a bundle with the signed CD and a vinyl record with signed lyric sheet.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1970 album Déjà Vu will be reissued as a five-disc deluxe set. The 4CD+LP package includes 38 bonus tracks including demos, outtakes, and alternates – most of which are previously unreleased.
St Vincent‘s six studio album “was inspired by the classic records of the ’70s. Stevie, Sly, Stones, Steely Dan, Chords, Groove”. it features the single ‘Pay Your Way in Pain’.
Free Hand, the seventh album from prog rockers Gentle Giant will be reissued in remixed form on CD, blu-ray and vinyl in June.
The 1975 album was the band’s first with Chrysalis in the UK (hence the name) and the most commercially successful of their eleven studio outings, reaching the top 50 of the Billboard album chart in America
The songs on the album include ‘On Reflection’, ‘Talybont’, ‘Time To Kill’ and ‘Just The Same’.
Steven Wilson’s stereo remix of ‘Just The Same’
As with the Octopus reissue and 2017’s Three Piece Suite, producer and musician Steven Wilson has remixed the music, in stereo (for the CD and vinyl) and in 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos, for the blu-ray audio (which is paired with the CD for a two-disc set).
The surround mixes are accompanied by custom animated visuals for each track on Blu-ray. Additionally, the blu-ray boasts a flat transfer of the original mix, the 1975 quad mix and an instrumental mix.
A double vinyl album offers both the original mix and the Steven Wilson stereo remix.
Matt Berry‘s new album The Blue Elephant is released next week, and SDE cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s a wonderfully evocative musical journey which embraces the trippy, psychedelia of the pop-rock scene of the late Sixties and early Seventies.
The album is almost entirely self-played and Berry also engineers and produces the whole thing. SDE caught up with him recently to discuss the record and Matt’s whole approach to recording…
How would you describe the new album. The Phantom Birds was very song-based, so I guess you were looking to do something a bit different?
Well, that’s exactly it. It’s basically a reaction to what I’d been making before, for a year or so… using techniques that were minimal, I guess. I was going back to that theory of the less you do, the more comes out of the speakers. And it was something that I enjoyed – I just had one guitar panned left, the drums panned right – it’s actually the other way around – and the bass dead centre and the voice dead centre. A sort of Dylan, Nashville or Neil Young way of producing it. That was great, but after doing that for a year or so I was ready to use more instruments and more colour, I guess.
How much did you plan out The Blue Elephant beforehand, in terms of the narrative and flow of the songs?
There was no plan in terms of which track goes where, or which track goes after anything. That’s all done at the end. In terms of the recording process it’s a load of ideas I’ve got where I see what I can do, whether that’s using two bass guitars once…. And a whole number of things, and it’s just whether the ideas will work or not. I think there were three tracks which didn’t make the album, so it’s just a load of different ideas and seeing how they fit together towards the end.
I guess with this kind of record it probably allows you more flexibility to use song fragments in an interesting way where you don’t necessarily have to slave over finishing a song with the traditional song structure?
Exactly, yeah. What Phantom Birds was, and possibly the album before it, was this kind of traditional song structure and I was just as interested in that, to see if I could pull off an album’s worth of beginnings, middle and endings. So by the time I did The Blue Elephant, I wanted to fuck all that and do a more freeform type of song, so you’re not sure if that chorus is ever going to come back, or is it just a great long intro? That has always been interesting to me, and that comes from bands like Roxy Music. I remember when I first heard For Your Pleasure, and ‘Do The Strand’, which was basically the chorus repeated the whole way through, and I thought that that was really interesting. And then a few tracks down the line you had ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ where it’s just the verse the whole way through until there’s a solo section at the end. Those kind of ideas, those approaches had always interested me. Like The Cure’s ‘Push’ which is an intro that goes on for about three minutes before he starts to sing. So it was that kind of thing that was an influence on this.
The album has that wonderful, sixties, trippy, psychedelic vibe in places. You mentioned Roxy Music, what other early musical influences did you have?
I was pretty sensitive to music, so if someone played something that hadn’t been anywhere near the charts I’d be a load more interested in that. And that could be anything, like someone at school who plays the guitar and then has Led Zeppelin albums, and you’re like “What the fuck is this? The drums don’t sound like this on the stuff in the charts!” And I always looked backwards when I was at school… it wasn’t until maybe Nirvana came along that I was interested in what was currently happening, because up until then, it was bad house that was in the charts, when I was in my formative years. That was good in a way, because it did make me look backwards. And from that I found The Doors, and that changed a lot of things for me because never had I heard organ be placed as a lead instrument, and I was obsessed with the reverbs and things and that Sunset Sound slapback reverb – I’ve used that on this album and other stuff I’ve done. So these production techniques were a big influence. I mean, the influence for this album I’d say is albums made between ’67 and ’73, production-wise.
‘Aboard’, the opening number from The Blue Elephant
I want to ask you more about the production in a second, but first off, where does all this musical talent come from, because there’s this big long list of instruments that you play, on the back of the album. Where did the musical skill come from and have you had that since childhood?
It’s purely down to having no fear of any of it. My parents couldn’t play anything, so I was never pressured into learning theory and I still can’t – I can’t read music. So, they put an organ in my bedroom – that sounds terrible [laughs] – and as a result of that, I just became obsessed with it and recorded with it. I realised I needed a bass guitar and some lead guitar. I didn’t know anyone who was anywhere near me who could actually play those things, so learnt them myself. I loved learning them, took to them, and that was it. I’ve never really looked at it as a big deal, you know it was born out of necessity and the love of doing it.
But you’ve clearly got some natural talent. You’re not just banging out chords. There’s some pretty impressive solo work on both guitar and the organ…
I suppose that’s just the length of time. I’ve be doing this since I was 13. If you’ve been doing it for that long and you haven’t had a break. You know, some people play the guitar and then stop at the age of 20, or whenever and then they might go back to it when they’re 45. Whereas I haven’t stopped, I kept doing it.
I’m fascinated by people like Karl Wallinger or Paul McCartney who have played all the instruments on an album themselves, and obviously with this record you’ve done that – apart from the drums. Do you enjoy that process? It must be a lot of work. Don’t you waste hours sorting out technical issues?
None of it’s wasted. There’s no hours wasted because all those hours are spent experimenting and finding out what works, for you personally. I love doing it all, so for me, it’s sort of a joy and a privilege, to be able to do it all…
I guess there was an element of necessity, due to the pandemic, but would you have done it like this, anyway?
Oh yeah, I absolutely would have done it anyway. The only difference is I wouldn’t have finished it by now because I would have been filming, but luckily – for the album – there was no filming that year, so I managed to spend twice the amount of time on it that I normally would have done.
An exclusive look at Matt Berry’s home studio set-up. Click the image to enlarge.
What about the production side of things, because you did mention production. With some artists, if you think of The Beatles, they worked with George Martin for seven years and when they come to do their solo work they’ve observed a master in action. How did you learn the art of engineering, production etc?
Well again, learning to engineer was the same as learning all these instruments. I was on my own and I had absolutely no choice. There was no one else back in the Witchazel days where I could say “could you come and mix this?” I had to do it all. But you just kind of learn that way, but I loved that side of things as much as playing. I get as much of a thrill out of working out what goes through the different compressors, you know, and how we’re going to get that flange sound on those drums at a particular point. With that, you kind of look backwards again, so I’m reading up on record production techniques of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s…
You are like a real student when it comes to that stuff, aren’t you?
Yeah. This is stuff I look up in my own time. I love all that.
It’s not actually on the vinyl, but in the gatefold of the CD there’s a great photo of your studio set-up. Is that a home studio?
It is. I do all of my albums at home. Everything. Since Witchazel, it’s been done at whichever accommodation I’m in at that time. Back then it was London flats. Witchazel was done in a tiny London flat.
You’ve clearly got a love for vintage instruments and it looks like you’ve got a great collection. But how far do you take the authenticity? Are you recording to ProTools or are you trying to keep it as authentic as possible?
Yeah, I am but at the same time I don’t want it being a pain in the arse. So it’s not all analogue tape in case I tape over something which would be a fucking nightmare [laughs]. So how this works is you put it all through Logic and then you put it to tape and then put it back and by doing that you should capture the atmosphere of old-fashioned tape.
But you’ve got the flexibility of digital?
Yeah. And you talk of authenticity. A lot of that gear you see in that photo is stuff I got in the early ’90s that honestly didn’t cost anything. People didn’t want any analogue stuff back then and you could get analogue synths for £100. I worked at Tesco and everything I earned from Tesco went onto music equipment and a lot of it is there in that photograph. And I think it is important to use the real thing for lots of reasons, the most obvious being that if you all use the same plug-in and the same soft synths, as it were, everyone will kind of sound the same. Whereas with a lot of these things [the real vintage instruments] they will sound different because they’re all wired differently and that’s how you get the, sort of, faults with them. Say like a [virtual] Wurlizter…. Every note would be in tune and it would sound digital and so it would sound slightly dead. Whereas if you use the real thing, not every note is in tune, so you get these faults… It’s basically character.
The Blue Elephant front cover was created by Matt Berry
Tell us about the front cover. That’s your artwork. Do you have an obsession with the Elephant Man, or his story?
It’s not really the Elephant Man, although I am interested in the Elephant Man, but it’s more about being looked at and being stared at. It feeds into that… That’s the point of it.
And where does that come from? Is that because you feel a bit like that, now that you’re quite a well known figure?
Well… The intentions of getting into something, personally, are never about those kinds of things… The trappings of it. The only thing I wanted to do was either to play my guitar, or dick about in comedy for money, so I didn’t have to get any kind of normal job. That’s alway been my sole motivation, to get away with this for as long as I could, so I didn’t have to go back to telesales. And the world that we’re in now is very unforgiving of people that are well known. It’s all that kind of stuff, I mean I never want to explain this kind of thing too much, because it’s up to other people to get what they want from the imagery.
In an ideal world, would you like to do just the music or do you enjoy all aspects of your work? I was wondering if you see the acting as an ‘enabler’ to allow you to do music?
No, no, no… I’m very fortunate to be able to do both. I get a massive thrill when coming up with something on set with other people that are into the same thing as you. Creating things, whether in the studio or with a cast, I get a thrill out of both.
What do you think of the music ‘industry’ at the moment, because this era that you are harking back to, in terms of the sound of the music, is a like a golden age for albums, rock bands and the like. But we are in a very different place now, where some people can’t be bothered to even listen to one song all the way through, properly, never mind an album. Also, if you were doing just the music you might not be able to earn a living…
Well I’d have to be touring all the time, and try and be clever about it, if it was my main job. I get that, but yeah, it’s completely different [now]. But that’s no fault of this [new] generation, it’s the fault of the commerce and the platforms. Whenever you apply business to art there’s always going to be a fuck up, or something that is unpleasant. And having these platforms where the artists don’t get paid – that isn’t good enough. But it was obviously going to happen. And you know, the other disappointing thing is that if people don’t have to pay for something, or they don’t have to go the extra mile for something, then they might not. I’m not saying everyone is like that, and lots of people do buy the album from the artist, but it’s easier not to and that makes a big difference, doesn’t it?
Totally. But it’s clear looking at the physical formats for The Blue Elephant that that is important to you. How something looks, how it feels…
It’s really important. You know, because you want value for money and you want these things to be tangible. I don’t just want this to be some fucking thing on someone’s phone, which doesn’t even have an album cover, or even any track names. I haven’t worked hard on it for it to end up like that. It’s not good enough for it to end up like that, it’s too lazy. But I am encouraged with how many labels now are doing physical and different formats. That seems to be growing and – you’ll know this a lot more than me – but there does seem to be more physical coming from smaller labels…
I think people have started to understand that if they want people to fork up the cash, it needs to be worth it and it’s more than just the audio; it’s the whole experience. This is why vinyl has made a comeback… Your Blue Elephant artwork, for example, looks so good on the larger, 12-inch format.
Exactly. And it was made for that. It wasn’t made to be a bloody thumbnail…
The cassette edition of The Blue Elephant
But we should talk about the cassette, this is the perfect time to do that, because you’ve created a tape in the style of those EMI-style cassettes from the 1970s, in exacting detail. Why did you want to do that then?
Growing up, these are the sort of things that always used to be on top of people’s gloveboxes – in all cars! It didn’t matter whose car you were in…
My dad had the entire Beatles catalogue on those tapes and we used to listen to them in the car.
Well you were lucky. I had to go to other dad’s cars, because my dad didn’t have any tapes, but yeah. Any dad’s car you went in there was always a bunch of those on the glovebox. And it was always things like The Dark Side of the Moon, or Rumours…
ELO was always one…
Exactly. And it was an event to have one of those on your glovebox and in your car. It was part of life. It’s so sad that all that has gone… You don’t know what anyone’s into now. And they’d be on the back seat, too. I can even remember being in a mate’s dad’s car and on the backseat he had a Jimi Hendrix tape. And I didn’t know who Jimi Hendrix was, but I knew that it looked good. Do you know what I mean? If you are interested in that stuff then it does stick in your mind. So the tape [of The Blue Elephant] was important. And it works, it’s not just an ornament.
The interesting thing about these tapes is that EMI used to muck about with the running order just to balance it out. So if you’ve got Revolver on one of these tapes it starts with ‘Good Day Sunshine’ – it doesn’t start with ‘Taxman’.
I know and the artists used to go fucking mental. I’ve heard that many times that the record companies would do that…
‘Summer Sun’, from The Blue Elephant
Talking of The Beatles, I did notice… you’ve obviously had a lot of fun with the new album, with little nods to other music, or other styles of music or whatever, and I have to put my hand up and claim a prize or something… Because you have the piano intro to the Anthology 2 version of ‘A Day In The Life’ in the mix. When I first heard it I thought “ooh, why is that familiar?”
[laughs] Well done! Well spotted… but not only that, I’ve recreated all the bit that goes up to that. So the harpsichord, the phone, the organ… I did it exactly.
That’s brilliant
I’ve always wanted to do it and in the past have been a bit nervous of doing that before a song, but this album was the perfect place to do it. But that was fun. That was a whole morning of listening to the original, stopping it. Doing it. Making sure it sounded exactly the same!
It’s those kinds of things that enrich it, I guess. Who is your audience, by the way? Do you know who they are, how do you get feedback from them?
I’ve no idea. I’m my audience [laughs]. It’s like the comedy. It’s done to make me laugh. It’s done because I’ve enjoyed it. It’s not done for anyone else, or to second guess an audience.
Are you going to tour the record? I saw you play live at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago and I was trying to remember who you were supporting and of course it was Steven Wilson. You’ll have to teach the band all the parts, which could take a while. You obviously love working in the studio, so how much do you enjoy the live experience?
I love it. And the band that I’ve got would be able to learn this stuff in an afternoon.
Is that The Maypoles?
Yeah.
So do you think you will tour it, or are you just going to move on to the next project?
Well, it depends. It’s all down to filming and whether we’re allowed to. I don’t think we’re going to be allowed to tour until the end of this year. And then I might be filming again, so it would all kind of depend on those two things.
One final question. Mentioning Steven Wilson made me think of it. This kind of record would sound amazing in 5.1. Have you got any interest in surround sound?
Possibly, yeah. And Steven would be the one to do it. We worked together… I say ‘worked’, I consulted very briefly on the Tangerine Dream box set he did [In Search of Hades]. It sounds fancier than it actually was, but because I know those albums all so well, it was basically him asking me how much he had deviated from the album that I remembered. And I’d say something like “that synth didn’t sound anywhere near as bright as it does know”. But yeah, if that was to happen it would be with Steven.
Thanks to Matt Berry who was talking to Paul Sinclair for SDE.The Blue Elephant is released on 14 May 2021.
![New Order / Be A Rebel [Remixed] on CD single and 12″ double-pack](https://images.superdeluxeedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/rebel_remixed_600.jpg)
