THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (REISSUES AND ANTHOLOGIES) By Michael McDowell

 CD AND LP REISSUES / ANTHOLOGIES (PLUS BOOKS)

(REVIEWS ARE POSTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY ARTIST)

I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN: Gear Fab label cofounder ROGER MAGLIO's early endeavors as a recording artist return to print in Songs From The Rocks. Editor/Publisher Michael McDowell puts the pieces of the puzzle together below (Click on above imaege to enlarge). 

BILL EVANS IN NORWAY:

THE KONGSBERG CONCERT -

Bill Evans (Elemental Music)

Few personified the notion of suffering for one's art as poignantly as did Bill Evans.

To wit, despite a somewhat dramatic affiliation with trumpeter Miles Davis' band in 1958 - 1959, keyboard virtuoso, visionary and Plainfield, New Jersey native Evans managed to rise to the occasion and soar on the group's landmark Kind Of Blue album for Columbia. 

Evans left Davis' group in late 1959 and formed a groundbreaking trio with bassist Scott LaFaro (whose most impressive resume included collaborations with Chet Baker, Ornette Coleman, Buddy DeFranco, Stan Getz and Cal Tjader) and drummer Paul Motian. The group flourished well into 1961, when LaFaro's sudden passing in an auto accident in July of that year sent Evans into a protracted tailspin.

Nonetheless, Evans' work on stage and in the studio continued to soar. In 1966, he joined forces with bassist Eddie Gomez, with whom he collaborated on this magnificent thirteen-track live set. 

Recorded at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival on 26 June 1970, Bill Evans In Norway finds Evans, Gomez and drummer Marty Morell in perfect sync with one another, as they glide through an impeccable cross section of richly diverse material, including the adventurous 34 Skidoo, Quiet Now, Gloria's Step, Nardis and an ambitious take on Roger Williams' Autumn Leaves. Throughout the proceedings, Gomez instinctively asserts and downplays his role as needed, with Morell serving as a driving force of sorts between Evans' moments of solo flight.

Evans doggedly persevered throughout the 1970s, recording two acclaimed collaborations with Tony Bennett in mid-decade. Sadly, he succumbed to lingering health concerns in September 1980 at age 51.

The latest in a long series of Evans projects by veteran archivist and historial Zev Feldman, Bill Evans In Norway also includes a rare interview with Evans, plus recent exchanges with Gomez and Morell, as well as commentary by other musicians who were present at the event. True to form, it is a superb depiction of a Time Remembered most favorably.

BOLD AS LOVE -

The Jimi Hendrix Experience 

(Experience Hendrix / Legacy)

When the recording industry began phasing out the large scale production of monaural LPs in 1968, albums such as this one were arguably at minimum a contributing factor towards that decision.

Upon their introduction in 1957, stereo albums were hailed as a more realistic listening experience. The intent was to give the audience a more accurate representation of a live perormance, something that that by definition the one dimensional monaural alternative could not offer. 

However, it took the better part of the next decade for the format to find its footing.

To that effect, there were some who presumed that the stereo process achieved its  goal in production with a mix that (for example) assigned the isolated vocal tracks to one channel, and the accompanying instrumentation to the other channel.

But by 1967, a number of artists had assimilated the basics of the process and were taking the concept even further. At year's end, the Florida-based Royal Guardsmen released their acclaimed third album for the Laurie label. Therein, the band utilized such perks of the trade as crosstalk and phasing to simulate a World War I battle scene inbetween related numbers. Suffice to say that by definition, the monaural version of that album lost something in the translation.

For the Jimi Hendrix Experience, much of 1966 and 1967 was a grad school level learning process in that respect. To be certain, the stage was already set from within. An avid record collector, drummer Mitch Mitchell also brought to the band a wealth of first generation garage rock experience from his time with the Riot Squad. In turn, guitarist and front man Hendrix had done numerous sessions with Joey Dee, Wilson Pickett, Curtis Knight and others.

Even more so, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1967 tour with the Monkees was a most fortuitous pairing. Both bands were determined to take their art to the next level within their respective mission statements. From Hendrix's perspective, the Monkees encouraged and heightened his awareness of the importance of creative autonomy, as well as the critical nature of the fundamentals of composition. Live appearances later that year with fellow Monterey Pop Festival alumni the Mamas And Papas (whose resident creative visionary, John Phillips was an avid student of the work of such greats as the Gershwins, Leiber and Stoller, etc.) did much to further the rich musical diversity in the Experience's own mission statement. 

In that respect, the band's Reprise debut, Are You Experienced was both a learning curve born of defensiveness, as well as an assertion of that newfound acumen. To be certain, they learned their lessons well. By the time their second Reprise album, Axis: Bold As Love saw release at the end of 1967, the band was firing on all cylinders. 

Among other things, Axis: Bold As Love saw the band taking full advantage of the possibilities of the stereo format. To that effect, the tongue in cheek, spoken word opening track, Exp finds voices split between left and right channels, with accompanying guitar-based sound effects swirling back and forth in a manner not unlike a race car circling a racetrack. In turn, the album's sublime debut single, Up From The Skies finds Hendrix utilizing his considerable guitar acumen to (in part) replicate minor vocal harmonies, giving the piece an otherworldly atmosphere that owes as much to the potential of technical savvy (for which credit must also go to board master Eddie Kramer) as well as the classic vocal groups of the immediate post-Barbershop era, such as the Revelers. 

Axis: Bold As Love also reflects a quantum leap in songwriting, from the everyman foibles of Wait Until Tomorrow to the foundational rock and roll inspiration of Little Miss Lover. The album also incorporates the benefits of stereo to maximum advantage, as showcased impeccably in One Rainy Wish and Bold As Love.

Released at the end of 2025, this latest in a long series of Experience Hendrix / Legacy collaborations most assuredly does both band and the original album justice. In keeping with a long standing demand amongst certain factions of the record collector contingent (albeit seemingly in contrast to the industry's aforementioned procedural developments in 1968), this lavish four CD plus bluray box set includes the original 1967 release in its monaural mix, as well as the stereo version.

But where Bold As Love really shines is in its wealth of bonus material. In this case, two CDs worth, including such game changing fare as The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice, live renditions of the earlier singles Purple Haze and Foxey Lady, and early takes of Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, which ultimately saw release on the double album, Electric Ladyland in the Autumn of 1968. 

With this release, the Jimi Hendrix Experience remains part of a rare trio of musical visionaries (alongside John Coltrane and Jim Reeves) who have been gone for more than a half century, yet whose archives continue to yield heretofore unavailable material well into the twenty-first century. To paraphrase a landmark cut from their Are You Experienced album, their Fire continues to stand. We remain immeasurably blessed as a result.

SONGS FROM THE ROCKS -

Roger Maglio

(Gear Fab)

Since the closing years of the twentieth century, Roger Maglio's Gear Fab Records has been a leading light among labels that specialize in the reissue of rare archival material. With hundreds of releases to its credit, Gear Fab has helped sustain the momentum for classic works by the Majic Ship, Bump, Stone Harbour, Eternity's Children, the Palace Guard, Big Boy Pete, the Crazy People and many others. 

It is not without precedent for individuals in positions of authority at record labels to make their own marks in the recording studio. Capitol's Johnny Mercer, Motown's Bob Kayli, Columbia's Mitch Miller and Hi Records' Ray Harris are among those who have successfully done so. 

Songs From The Rocks is a welcome reminder of Maglio's initial aspirations in that respect. Compiled from various recordings made by Maglio as a solo artist and as a member of the Borrowed Times Band. Much of the material herein initially saw release on vinyl in limited quantites on Gear Fab in the late 1980s. But as the label increasingly directed its attention towards the reissue of material by other artists, Maglio's own musical projects were shelved for a season.

The material herein showcases Maglio as artist with a clear cut vision that stands in solidariy with the mission statements of many of the bands whose works he returned to print. To wit, Flower Child espouses the basics championed by Gear Fab favorites, Stone Harbour in the reissue of their 1974 Emerges album. In turn, the Cesar Franck-like organ flourishes that grace the album's opener, You Can't See Me (No More) set the stage for the mid-tempo, first generation garage rock-inspired drama that served the Rain Parade well in such like minded originals as Kaleidoscope. 

Conversely, the instrumental Cedar Beach shines as a dreamscape variation of sorts of the inspiration of the Pyramids and the Chantays. A duly executed and immersible cover of the Beatles' I'll Follow The Sun irrefutably drives the point home. 

While Maglio's responsibilities at Gear Fab continue to command the bulk of his attention, Songs From The Rocks serves as a solid launching pad for whatever such subsequent ventures he may pursue in the future. In the words of the aforementioned Stone Harbour, it would be a mere Stones Throw in terms of regaining momentum.

LIVE IN FRANCE -

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

(Deep Digs)

Much of which was taken for granted in the second half of the twentieth century was in reality the result of the foundational work of visionary artists in the first half.

To wit, the Heidelberg Quintet, the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots set the standard for vocal group harmony and interplay. In the process, they raised the bar to the degree that it has yet to be surpassed. 

In turn, giants such as Charly Patton, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Hank Williams immeasurably enriched the musical landscape with their formidable acumen as composers and vocalists. Moreover, game changing bands such as the Almanac Singers and the Weavers brought into the mix an emphasis on the cerebral approach within their art, paving the way in the process for everything from the folk boom to first generation garage rock.

One such visionary who elevated the state of the art and made an enormous impact in the process was composer, guitarist, vocalist and Cotton Plant, Arkansas native Rosetta "Sister Rosetta Tharpe" Nubin. Profoundly impacted by Gospel music, Tharpe began playing guitar at the age of six at the Church Of God In Christ, where her mother Katie (who was also a gifted vocalist and mandolin player) served as both a deaconess and missionary.

By 1938, Tharpe had signed with Brunswick Records, where she made her debut with the monster classic Rock Me / Lonesome Road single. Over the next several years, she cut a string of game changing singles for Brunswick and Decca, including God Don't Like It, This Train and Bring Back Those Happy Days. Tharpe joined forces with Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra in 1941, which elevated her profile among the rank and file exponentially. 

Tharpe spent a signigicant amount of time touring both North America and Europe during the 1950s and 1960s. Thankfully, a number of those performances were preserved on film. However, it was only in the late 2010s that this remarkable collection (recorded on 11 November 1966 at the Grand Theater in the city of Limoges in the Haute-Vienne department of west central France) was discovered by historian Zev Feldman in the Institut National de L'audiovisuel archives. It now makes its offical debut here in both the vinyl and CD configurations. 

By the time of this recording, Tharpe had long been acknowledged as one of the founders of rock and roll. Artists from Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley to Little Richard and long time Herman's Hermits rhythm guitarist Frank Renshaw (who had attended a Therpe live performance in the mid-1960s) have sung her praises, while guitarists from Eric Clapton to Keith Richards have hailed her influence in their own work. 

In this release, Tharpe sings the praises of God as few could, with a fervor that continues to motivate and inspire. Herein, she revisits a number of classics that also found a home in the repertoires of her musical peers and disciples, including Didn't It Rain (Evelyn Freeman and the Exciting Voices; Mahalia Jackson), Down By The Riverside (the Weavers) and When The Saints Go Marching In (the Kingston Trio), as well as a few of her own signature tracks (This Train, Bring Back Those Happy Days, Moonshine) and a closing number that had also graced the repertoires of Blind Willie Johnson, the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama and Nina Simone, Nobody's Fault But Mine.

Sadly, Tharpe suffered a stroke in 1970, which led to a diabetes-related amputation of a leg. Despite her valiant attempts to rebound, Tharpe suffered a second and fatal stroke on the eve of a planned recording session in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 1973. She was 58.

With a wealth of archival material and rare photos, as well as a comprehensive essay by Tharpe biographer Gayle Wald and insights from Bonnie Raitt, Moving Sidewalks / ZZ Top co-founder Billy Gibbons and actor / former Black Flag lead vocalist, Henry Rollins, Live In France is indeed nothing short of answered prayer.

HE TOOK US BY STORM -

Various Artists

(Bear Family)

And a quiet storm it was not.

Given the wealth of covers afforded Bob Dylan material during rock and roll's peak creative period (from the Turtles' It Ain't Me Babe and the Vacels' Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window to Rick Nelson's She Belongs To Me and Peter Antell's The Times They Are A Changin'), it would have been a fairly straightforward process to issue a CD comprised of the best such endeavors.

But in keeping with Dylan's consistent endeavors to confound expectations, Bear Family herein instead has gathered twenty-five tracks that drew their inspiration from his work. The rich diversity of artists represented in He Took Us By Storm speaks volumes, from Dion DiMucci (Two Ton Feather), Billy Joe Royal (covering Joe South's These Are Not My People) and Donovan Leitch (his Hickory-era Universal Soldier single) to Bob Seger And The Last Heard (their landmark January 1967 Persecution Smith single for Hideout), Barry McGuire (his much loved Dunhill-era Don't You Wonder Where It's At) and Leon Russell (Everybody's Talking About The Young). First rate gems by Eric Andersen, P.F. Sloan, David Crosby, Tom Rush, Johnny Winter, Bobby Darin, Boz Scaggs, Ferre Grignard and Dino Valenti round out the remainder of the set.

Featuring an insightful commentary by the late John Sinclair (a one time member of Blitz Magazine - The Rock And Roll Magazine For Thinking People's production team) and extensive sleeve notes by Philippe LeBras and others, He Took Us By Storm is most assuredly a decisive step towards taking the far reaching impact of one of the twentieth century's premier wordsmiths and Bringing It All Back Home.

KINGS, QUEENS AND JOKERS  -

Victoria (Gear Fab)

Remarkable is the reissue project that enjoys deluxe treatment in its third incarnation.

Such is the case with the 1971 debut album by the New Jersey band, Victoria. Recorded between 1969 and 1971, the original album featured eight original compositions by band co-founder Greg Ruban.

In reality, the album was a joint venture between Victoria (Ruban, along with Sharon Barton, Maureen Deidelbaum and Cheryl Simpson), in tandem with the Dirty Martha Band. Logistics prevented the band from performing live, but they did manage to capture this lone extraordinary effort in the studio. 

As a composer, Ruban (who also served as producer for this project) demonstrated remarkable vision and depth during that deceptively fallow creative period. To wit, the original album featured ambitious psychedelic workouts such as Village Of Etaf, which would have been right at home within the fertile boom period that produced the likes of Tintern Abbey, Grapefruit and the Soft Machine a scant few years earlier. 

In turn, the curious Cumberland takes its cue in parts from the Velvet Underground's Sunday Morning, while Gevaro avails itself as a latter day reimagination of Frankie Laine's Jezebel. Moreover, Ride A Rainbow serves as an extension and/or answer of sorts to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Purple Haze, while the opener, Peace sports some refreshing acoustic guitar in its intro that falls in solidarity with the like minded overtures found in Lighthouse's One Fine Morning. The rare profession of candor that is the aptly named Never Knew Blues brings it all full circle; paradoxically drawing as it does from the tension that graced the template of Billy Roberts' often covered 1962 standard, Hey Joe.

Curiously, Kings, Queens And Jokers did not make it past the demo stage at the time of its recording. Nonetheless, it did finally see a limited release of two hundred copies in the early years of the twenty-first century. Out of print since 2005, it now enjoys a deluxe CD reissue on the Gear Fab label. For this deluxe third appearance, label president Roger Maglio has included seven heretofore unreleased Ruban compositions that were drawn from master tape and acetate sources, highlighted by the Gospel-tinged Mister Let Me Go, Child Of A Princess and an alternate take of Cumberland.

Sadly, Greg Ruban passed away in 2008. Nonetheless, his unique vision brings a most welcome addition to Gear Fab's extensive catalog of reissues of the rarest independent releases. Incentive to Ride A Rainbow indeed.