VA - Looking Back: 80 Mod, Freakbeat & Swinging London Nuggets

Sixties British Mod sounds encompassed hard-edged r'n'b and swingin' blue-eyed soul, as well as Who-ish freakbeat power pop. Looking Back provides an excellent and comprehensive overview of all these styles over the course of three CDs.

"A mammoth eighty-track compendium of the finest (mostly) British Mod sounds of the '60s, housed in a clambox with a 48-page booklet, Looking Back boasts a smattering of previously unissued gems from the likes of A Wild Uncertainty, Tony Rivers & The Castaways, The Thoughts, The Trekkas and The Knave, compiled and annotated by Paul Weller biographer and long-time Mod observer John Reed and designed by Andy Morten (Shindig! magazine, Rev-Ola)." - Cherry Red Records

THE ROLLING STONES - Exile On Main St.

It’s never too late to be convinced of the greatness of this album; it took me a couple of years to get it.  A friend in university explained that Exile was truly the apotheosis of American music, as could only be done by white British rock band. Not only did the Stones master raunchy blues/rock’n’roll, but they also nailed country, folk, and gospel sounds and distilled them in a way that had rarely been done previously. 

Covering four sides of vinyl, this record is a miracle of greatness, the Stones at their most convincing, going for purity of expression and performance over clarity of production. The album is famous for its quirky mixing approach, often burying Mick’s vocals in the murk of a haphazardly recorded rhythm section. How they were able to put so much legendary music onto one recorded document boggles the mind, and it still shocks me how many people can reference this record but not be intimately familiar with the tracks that make it up.

So where to start with this reissue? First, there’s the bare-bones remastered version that would be swell for anyone who still doesn’t own this. Curious fans already familiar with the music, though, will find much to be enjoyed on the deluxe edition that boasts 10 bonus tracks, suggesting that Exile could have actually been a triple album! Sure, Mick went back and re-recorded some of his vocals, an understandable griping point for purists, but I think most people wouldn’t have even noticed. You’ll hear “Good Time Women,” which later became “Tumblin’ Dice,” demos of “Loving Cup” and “Soul Survivor,” plus other outtakes. Interestingly, “Plundered My Soul” is kind of a new song, as it never had a vocal until Mick put one on in March. And guess who also did a new lead guitar lead on the track?  You got it, Mick Taylor! (Go back to The Faces where you belong, Ronnie Wood.) 

Want more? Try the Super Deluxe Edition, a beautiful box filled with vinyl, a 50-page book, and a DVD which includes footage from legendary films Cocksucker Blues (pure sleaze), and Ladies and Gentlemen (pure majesty). Take your pick.

THE WHO - The Who Sell Out

The Who's underappreciated treasure from 1967 has been reissued for the first time in fourteen years, in a deluxe double-disc package consisting of both mono and stereo mixes and a slew of bonus tracks. Before becoming famous for their rock operas, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and co. were very much a pop group--albeit an extremely loud and hard-edged one--whose success in the UK owed a great deal to airplay on offshore pirate radio stations. The British government ban on these stations in '67 incensed Townshend, who turned what could have been an album of unrelated songs into a tongue-in-cheek tribute to top-40 radio and crass commercialism. Fake commercials and genuine jingles link the most psychedelic tunes The Who ever recorded. Sell Out's mono version is a must-hear for guitar solos markedly different than the ones on the stereo mix, notably on the song "Our Love Was, Is". The bonus cuts include demos and material left off the original album which, in this reviewer's opinion, was The Who's strongest and strangest.

THE PRETTY THINGS - Philippe DeBarge

In 1969, British R&B/psych cult heroes The Pretty Things were somewhat at loose ends. S.F. Sorrow, their innovative rock opera released the previous year, had flopped commercially, although Pete Townshend, then in the midst of creating Tommy, had certainly been taking notes. Into this picture stepped a wealthy young Frenchman, Philippe DeBarge, who commissioned the group to record a new album--with him on lead vocals. Strange but true. The Pretties came up with a batch of sterling psychedelic gems, and the end result, never released at the time, has now seen the light of day. While not sounding as strong as Pretty Things frontman Phil May, DeBarge's raspy voice suits the material just fine. Detailed liner notes courtesy of Mike Stax, publisher of essential garage-psych 'zine Ugly Things, whose offshoot label is responsible for this disc's release.