Lindisfarne Brand New Day – The Mercury Years 1978-1979 Lemon/Cherry Red CDLEM3BOX251
Despite Lindisfarne's split in 1973, in 1976 a reunion one-off concert of the classic lineup (Alan Hull, Ray Jackson, Ray Laidlaw, Simon Cowe, and Rod Clements) was put together at Newcastle City Hall. This went down so well that in 1977 they decided to do it all again, and the resulting album Magic in the Air was released on Mercury in 1978. Originally a triumphant double album, it makes up the first disc of this comprehensive reunion boxed set. All the classic tracks includng Lady Eleanor, Meet Me On the Corner, We Can Swing Together, Clear White Light and of course Fog On the Tyne are on show here, while the band are in fine form performing a range of deeper cuts such as Court in the Act and Winter Song. There is fantastic interplay between all the members, with the trademark Lindisfarne vocal harmonies, and the band and audience sound like they are having the time of their life.
Naturally, what had started as occasional one-offs then turned into a full-blown reunion, and the re-formed band recorded and released Back and Forth (here on disc two) in 1978, featuring such future classics as Jukebox Gypsy, Run for Home --which hit the UK Top 30-- as well as Warm Feeling and Marshall Riley's Army. There was definitely no attempt to reinvent the wheel here, and what you get is an assured album, with the band's four songwriters bringing their strongest material to the table. Augmented by additional B-sides and non-album singles, disc two has a total of nine additional bonus tracks.
The last Mercury album, The News (disc three), was released in 1979, with the pressure on from the record label for a hit. Although the momentum from the reunion had waned and there was less enthusiasm from the audience for new Lindisfarne tracks amid a changing musical landscape, the material on here was just as strong as the previous album, with songs like 1983, Easy and Free, Miracles and When Friday Comes Around. This is a great little compilation, augmented by ten bonus live tracks recorded at Newcastle City Hall in 1979 which showcase newer material from Back and Forth and The News alongside the older classics. It shines a light on a neglected part of the Lindisfarne back catalogue.
Edgar Broughton Band Gone Blue: the BBC Sessions Esoteric/Cherry Red ECLEC42872
For a period in the late sixties and early seventies the Edgar Broughton Band were a familiar fixture on the free festival and alternative scene, signed to the iconic EMI Harvest label. The trio were led by brothers Edgar (guitar/vocals) and Steve Broughton (drums), joined by Arthur Grant (bass/vocals). They brought their unique fusion of West Coast anti-establishment attitude mixed with a West Midlands blues ethos to many a festival and university.
Their popularity during this period is reflected in this four disc collection that mops up all the sessions that they recorded for the BBC between 1969-1973 (disc one), a John Peel Sunday Concert from 1971 (disc two), a BBC Radio 1 in Concert from 1972 (disc three contains the original UK mono broadcast, and disc four the overseas broadcast stereo mix). Including a booklet outlining the band's history with the BBC, this is a fantastic companion to Esoteric's Speak Down the Wires boxed set.
With raw, gritty energy and a mix of dark blues, improvisational chops, and protest lyrics, this collection contains a great mix of their early material, with tracks like Officer Dan, Chilly Morning Momma, and The House of Turnabout. The between-song interviews with Brian Matthews include an amusing story about them being banned from Ramsgate because they wanted to put on a free children's show. The collection also features a fantastic live version of Hotel Room that Tony Blackburn had championed on his breakfast show. The concerts highlight the band's musical dexterity and their improvisational skills, as they stretch the songs out and bring a different light to Freedom, Drop Out Boogie, and an amazing extended version of Out Demons Out (on disc three), where the audience really get into it.
The energy and skill of the performances on this box are fantastic. The fact there are still previously unreleased gems like these lurking in the BBC archives is a testament to the sheer amount of live music and variety of bands that Radio 1 used to promote and highlight in the late sixties and early seventies.
Stackridge Lost and Found: The Reunion Years 1999-2015 Esoteric/Cherry Red ECLEC42884
Finishing up Esoteric's extensive remastering of the entire Stackridge back catalogue comes this cracking little four-disc set containing the two reunion albums (1999’s Something for the Weekend and 2008’s A Victory for Common Sense), the material that made up the EP-and-compilation-album Sex & Flags (including Lemon), and their last concert The Final Bow recorded in Bristol in 2015.
With a revolving reunion line-up that hinged around James Warren and, latterly, Andy Davis, 1999’s Something for the Weekend saw Warren reunited with Mutter Slatter and Mike Evans, with a variety of guest musicians. The core Stackridge sound was still there, and Something About the Beatles, Five-Poster Bedlam, and Drinking and Driving all fit perfectly into the Stackridge canon. 2008’s A Victory for Common Sense saw the line-up stabilised around Andy Davis, Warren, Slatter, the returned Crum Walter, and longtime Warren associate Glenn Tomney. This album, for me, is as strong as anything that Stackridge released in the seventies, the perfect example of a band reuniting and recapturing the old magic, but with a new eye for detail. Boots and Shoes, Red Squirrel, Long Dark River, and Cheese and Ham (a track with the optimal blend of musicality and Stackridge whimsy) make this album an absolute joy from start to finish.
By 2015 Stackridge consisted of Andy Davis, James Warren, Clare Lindley (guitar/violins), Glenn Tomney, and Eddie John. This line-up would also go on tour as Stackridge vs The Korgis, playing a mixture of both bands' repertoire (I saw one of these performances at Eppyfest in Stroud in 2015). By the end of the year they had decided to retire Stackridge with a final performance at Fiddlers in Bristol on the 19th of December. This complete concert stretches over the final two discs in the box, and features Mutter Slatter guesting on classics like Purple Spacecrafts over Yatton and Slark (which, for any Taskmaster fans out there, has been played throughout the live tasks on the latest season). Other classic tracks performed include The Road to Venezuela, Dora the Female Explorer, God Speed the Plough and Something About the Beatles. The band are on fire throughout, and the audience sound like they are having great fun.
This is a cracking box set. If you enjoy your West Country rock, then this is for you!--James R Turner
