Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Gordon Lightfoot's 'Summer Side Of Life' (2021)

In May 1971 Gordon Lightfoot released his sixth studio album 'Summer Side Of Life' on the Reprise Records label. The album marked a departure from the sound Lightfoot had established on 'Sit Down Young Stranger' in its use of drums and electric instrumentation, to which he would later return in the second half of the decade, and a song like 'Redwood Hill' even contains elements of bluegrass music. The title track was released as a single and peaked at number 98 on the pop singles chart while 'Talking In Your Sleep' reached number 64, while in his homeland of Canada they were both top 30 hits. Anne Murray took her cover of 'Cotton Jenny' into the top 20 on the U.S. country singles chart, while 'Love And Maple Syrup' was covered by Taylor Mitchell in 2009. Nanci Griffith tackled '10 Degrees And Getting Colder' on her 1993 album, 'Other Voices, Other Rooms', after the song had previously been recorded by J. D. Crowe & The New South on their eponymous album in 1975. As with other albums by Lightfoot in this series, the quality of the song-writing was immediately apparent to other artists, and the majority of the songs from this record had been covered by the following year, and so here is another fine collection of Lightfoot's songs as interpreted by other artists.

Track listing

01 10 Degrees & Getting Colder (Jeffrey Shurtleff 1972)
02 Miguel (Jim Donaldson 2011)
03 Go My Way (Val Doonican 1971) 
04 Summer Side Of Life (Blackie And The Rodeo Kings 2003)
05 Cotton Jenny (Anne Murray 1971)
06 Talking In Your Sleep (Caroline Wiles 2021) 
07 Nous Vivons Ensemble (Martin Peltier 1972)
08 Same Old Loverman (Percy Sledge 1971)  
09 Redwood Hill (The Country Gentlemen 1972) 
10 Love & Maple Syrup (Jack Hudson 1972)  
11 Cabaret (John McLachlan 2021) 

Dua Lipa - Wrong Number (2020)

Here is another great collection of off-cuts from the writing and recording sessions for Dua Lipa's second album from 2020.

Track listing

01 Wrong Number
02 Rich
03 Worst Enemy
04 Tijuana (feat. Pharrell)
05 Lion
06 Who Do You Love
07 Run Together
08 Cry (feat. Pharrell)
09 Complicated
10 Sweet Tooth
11 Shine On Sad World
12 Crocodile Tears

Buckingham Nicks - Without You (1974)

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks met while they were both attending Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California, south of San Francisco. At the time, Nicks was a senior in high school and Buckingham, one year younger, was a junior, and they first met at a casual, after-school Young Life gathering in 1966, where they found themselves harmonizing on songs, although it would be another two years before they collaborated again. In 1968 Buckingham invited Nicks to sing in Fritz, a band for which he was playing bass guitar, and which included some of his high school friends, although they never performed their own original music. The pair continued to perform with the band for three years until they finally dissolved in 1971, and having developed a romantic relationship in addition to their working partnership, Nicks and Buckingham decided soon afterwards to move from San Francisco to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams of being signed. In 1972, the two continued to write songs, recording demo tapes at night in Daly City on a half-inch four-track Ampex tape machine Buckingham kept at the coffee roasting plant belonging to his father. It was not long before the duo met engineer and producer Keith Olsen, as well as casual entrepreneurs Ted Feigin and Lee Lasseff, and when the three heard some of their music they offered to help them secure a distribution deal with Polydor. Recording sessions took place at Sound City Studios, and the resulting album included c couple of guitar instrumentals, 'Django' and 'Stephanie', which was written for Nicks, who was born Stephanie Lynn Nicks. 

The self-titled album was virtually ignored by the promotional staff at Polydor Records when it was released in 1973, but thanks to airplay by several Birmingham, Alabama disc jockeys, the duo managed to cultivate a relatively small and concentrated fan base in that area. Elsewhere in the country, the album did not prove to be commercially successful and was soon deleted from the label's catalogue, and so the disheartened pair spent much of the rest of 1973 continuing to work outside of the music industry to pay their rent. However, shortly after the album's release, Mick Fleetwood, while evaluating recording studios, heard 'Frozen Love' played back through studio monitors at Sound City by Keith Olsen, and he would go on to invite the duo to join Fleetwood Mac in 1974. Before this, Buckingham and Nicks had toured their album, and bootleg recordings have shown that their set list included songs such as 'Rhiannon', 'Sorcerer', and 'Monday Morning', confirming some of the tracks that they would bring with them to the new band. Buckingham has mentioned in interviews that he would have liked to have made a second Buckingham Nicks album, and they had enough songs from their demos to make a start on it, some of which have since leaked on what has become known as 'The Coffee Plant Demos', which include the otherwise unreleased gem 'Without You', the aptly named 'Cathouse Blues', and the quaint 'Goldfish And The Ladybug'. By adding a couple of tracks written after they moved to LA, plus early versions of Nicks and Buckingham compositions recorded by Fleetwood Mac for their 1977 album, we have enough similar sounding material for a creditable follow-up to 'Buckingham Nicks', which could have appeared around 1974, a year or so after their first record.  

Track listing

01 Monday Morning
02 Cathouse Blues
03 Candlebright
04 Landslide
05 Without You
06 Rhiannon
07 Sorcerer
08 Goldfish And The Ladybug
09 World Turning

10 Garbo
11 That's Alright

12 I'm So Afraid

Paris Hilton - Platinum Blonde (2013)

Paris Whitney Hilton is a polarizing and ubiquitous public figure, and is said to have influenced the revival of the "famous for being famous" phenomenon throughout the 2000's, with critics suggesting that she exemplifies the celebutante — a household name not through talent or work, but through inherited wealth and lavish lifestyle. During her life she's turned her hand to modelling, signing with Donald Trump's agency Trump Model Management; writing, publishing her debut book, 'Confessions Of An Heiress' in 2004; acting, with a major film role in the horror remake 'House Of Wax' in 2005; and music, releasing her eponymous debut studio album, 'Paris', in 2006. The record number six on the Billboard 200, and also produced the successful single 'Stars Are Blind', which attained global success, reaching the top ten in 17 countries. Critical reception of her music was mixed, but she found a new fanbase who supported what she was producing, and over the next few years she recorded more songs for a proposed second album, which should have been released around 2013. 'Good Time' was released as the first single from the album in October 2013, to generally negative reviews from the critics, although it still reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot Dance chart. 'Come Alive' followed in July 2014, this time to a much more positive reception, with mention being made of her growth as a vocalist, but there was no sign of the album which was supposed to follow it. Another single was released in 2015, but this time 'High Off My Love' was not promoted as being taken from her second album, and so that seemed to confirm that it was not going to appear any time soon. Further singles were issued in the following years, and in 2024 it was finally announced that Hilton's second studio album would appear this year. For fans who have waited almost a decade to hear more from her, here is a reconstruction of what that second album might have sounded like had it appeared as intended in 2013. 

Track listing

01 Platinum Blonde 
02 Child Of The 80's
03 Good Time (feat. Lil' Wayne)
04 Jailhouse Baby 
05 Boy, Oh Boys
06 I Wanna Know
07 Globetrottin'
08 Crave 
09 I Need You
10 Last Night (feat. Lil' Wayne & Afrojack)
11 Come Alive
12 My BFF 

The Rolling Stones - Strictly Memphis (1993)

This third album from the superb 'Fully Finished Studio Outtakes' bootleg is a transitional set, using tracks following on from the last post's1982 leftovers, starting with an edited take of a 1983 outtake (I thought the outro just went on too long), followed by half a dozen songs from 1985, one from 1989, and then closing with a couple from 1993, which will lead us nicely into the final post, which will cover 1997. As before, here are notes from Zen Archer's Aural Surfing Odyssey blog, with the correct years of recording, and as well as editing 'Dog Shit', I've also fixed the intro to 'Strictly Memphis'. 

01 Dog Shit (1983)
I guess you'd rather putty in your hands rather than the alternative but this track, which made it's inaugural appearance on 'Foxes In The Boxes' as a thrilling instrumental now features vocals. A storming horn lead thruster with an insatiable appetite for longevity (sounds about right, eh?) is far too good to have been left by the side of the road but here we are. Correct year.
02 Deep Love (1985)
A deep and funky, loose guitar driven track from the 'Dirty Work' sessions. Jagger veers between roar and growl with his vocals. Correct year.
03 Nobody's Perfect (1975)
Apparently from the 'Black And Blue' sessions, I would argue that this track has much more of an 80's feel, as the production is a give away – that and the drive of Charlie’s drumming. Both Ronnie and Keith's licks playfully lap against each other. More likely to be 1985.
04 Putty In Your Hands (1982)
Soul styled romp with Keith starring just as closely as Mick's bellowed vocals. This track has as much sass as the girl who's leading Mick around and up and down. It’s a cover-version of a Shirelles track from 1962 and makes a good fist of attempting to sound like it might. Probably 1985.
05 I Can't See No One Else (1985)
A perfectly packaged double-entendre of a song. Mainly piano led but featuring a stinging Shadows styled guitar with a chugging rubbery bass-line and fabulous call and response harmonies. Correct year. 
06 Don't Lie To Me (1972)
No, not that one but an 80's version instead. Very interesting lyrics referencing a "Monkey Man", this is in the very same style as 'Troubles A-Coming' This re-work sounds like 1985.
07 Strictly Memphis (1985)
This track appears almost fully formed, a soul funk stomp that cuts in on a take that's already in full flow (now fixed). This version adds a little extra brass. Take your pick of ‘Dirty Work' outtake compilations previous – It's probably already featured on there already. Correct year
08 What Am I Gonna Do With Your Love (feat. Kirsty MacColl, Tom Waits & Bobby Womack 1985)
On this 1985 gospel track recorded in New York, the band are joined by guest artists who perform a credible vocal-orientated song. Jagger takes the lead vocals and Richards the backing vocals, while Kirsty MacColl, Patti Scialfa, Don Covay and Bobby Womack do the gospel invocation of "your love". Tom Waits possibly plays the piano, as he was recoding his next album 'Rain Dogs' in New York at the same time, and Keith took time out to play on a couple of tracks. 
09 Giving It Up (1989)
Taken from sessions for the 'Steel Wheels' album, this version features an extra piano line that was later stripped out. Correct year. 
10 Hands Off (1986)
A tough, thundering rocker with a quick, choppy tempo. Really very Stones-of-the-time, and that time is most likely 1993.
11 Ivy League (1994)
A more complete version of the track without some of the overdubs of other versions. Probably one year earlier, at 1993.

Track listing 

01 Dog Shit
02 Deep Love 
03 Nobody's Perfect
04 Putty In Your Hands
05 I Can't See No One Else 
06 Don't Lie To Me
07 Strictly Memphis
08 What Am I Gonna Do With Your Love (feat. Kirsty MacColl, Tom Waits & Bobby Womack) 
09 Giving It Up
10 Hands Off
11 Ivy League 

Viva Saturn - Ships Of Heaven (1998)

Some time ago I downloaded an unreleased album by Viva Saturn from the False Memory Foam blog, as I'm a great fan of the band, and so obviously wanted to hear anything that I didn't already have. Viva Saturn was put together by Steven Roback when his main band Rain Parade decided to take a break in 1988, and along with fellow Rain Paraders John Thoman and Will Glenn, the band recorded a self-titled mini-LP, which was released on Pat Thomas' San Francisco-based Heyday Records and World Service/Rough Trade UK in 1989. The following year, after Glenn left to join David Roback's Mazzy Star, the band relocated to San Francisco, where Rain Parade co-founder Matt Piucci joined to play guitar and assist with studio production. Over the next few years they used various musicians, including bassist Ross Inden and drummer Carlo Nuccio, to record a series of acclaimed neo-psychedelic albums, including 'Soundmind' in 1992, and the more pop, but still electro-acoustic psychedelia-rooted 'Brightside' in 1995. The band recorded a final album, 'Ships Of Heaven', in 1997, but when it was delivered to Reckless Records in 1998 they decided to pass on it, which led to the eventual break-up of the band, after which Roback embarked on a solo career. There was minimal information about the album, which had come from one of the site's regular visitors, and it contained eight songs from the up-coming release on Reckless Records, but there were no track titles, and it was also noticeable that the title track was missing, so by adding that back in we could hear almost the whole 'Ships Of Heaven' album. It's always frustrated me that I didn't know what the songs were called, but recently I found a podcast where Viva Saturn mainman Steven Roback talked at length about this shelved album, and as well as giving the titles for the songs, they also played a taster of each one, so at last I could finally put title to track. It seems that when the album was rejected, Roback pressed up around 100 copies himself, and distributed them to deserving recipients, and the track listing for this CD was:    

01 Angel Sister
02 Ships Of Heaven 
03 Bury The Axe
04 Change Everything
05 Thursday's Bright   
06 Out Of Reach
07 Whirlwind   
08 Quality Time 
09 Valentine's Day 
10 Dream Came True  
11 Needle And The Damage Done

'Out Of Reach' and 'Valentine's Day' were both acoustic demos by Roback, but neither of them were on the album that I downloaded, although there was another track on there which seemed to be called 'So I'm Gone', so it looks like this eight track sampler was not the same as the one pressed up by Roback in 1998, but was possibly a promo issued by the record company themselves before they cancelled it. I noticed that on the Roback version he'd added his cover of Neil Young's 'The Needle And The Damage Done' to close it, which he'd recorded for a Neil Young tribute album, 'This Note's For You Too!' in 1999. If it was able to be added to the CD then it must have been recorded in 1998, so I've added that to the end of this disc, stretching the record to a perfectly acceptable 35 minutes. The podcast was a fascinating insight into the making of the album, so if any fans want to listen to it, you can find it here.     

Track listing

01 Angel Sister
02 Ships Of Heaven 
03 Bury The Axe
04 Change Everything
05 Thursday's Bright   
06 So I'm Gone
07 Whirlwind   
08 Quality Time 
09 Dream Came True  
10 The Needle And The Damage Done

Thank to the False Memory Foam blog for providing this in the first place. 

The Beach Boys - SMiLE (1967) **UPGRADE**

I've listened to this album quite a bit since I posted it, more than any other version that I've ever downloaded, and it certainly has something about it which keeps drawing you back to it. In fact, it was the very reason that the False Memory Foam blog made a comeback after a six month hiatus, just to post the album, with a few judicious edits that they'd made. I though that they improved the flow, as most reviews had agreed that 'You're Welcome' should not have been included, whereas everyone has always thought that 'Good Vibrations' was intended to open side two, so I've updated my version to make those two changes, using the 2021 stereo remaster of 'Good Vibrations', which is generally agreed to be the best version. I've also made another slight edit which I entirely agreed with, and that is the removal of the 'You're Under Arrest' section from 'Heroes And Villains', which neither of us liked. Finally, they though that the exclusion of the track 'Cool, Cool Water' was a mistake, and so they grafted that on to the beginning of 'I Love To Say Dada', and I liked that, although not the slow build up, so I've edited it to start with the vocals on my updated track. One thing I didn't agree with was the change to the running order, as I'm now used to how this plays and I think it really works, so I've left that pretty much intact. With these slight edits I now have a version that I'm completely happy with, so if you want to try it was well then it's updated on Soulseek and Mega, with the original version also left up in case you want to try both. 

Track listing

01 Our Prayer
02 Heroes And Villains
03 I'm In Great Shape
04 Barnyard
05 Do You Like Worms
06 Cabinessence
07 The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine
08 Wonderful

09 Good Vibrations
10 Fire/I Wanna Be Around 
11 Vega-Tables
12 Wind Chimes
13 Child Is Father Of The Man
14 Cool, Cool Water/I Love To Say Dada/In Blue Hawaii
15 Surf's Up

Cherish - The Moment (2003)

Cherish was an American R&B music group consisting of four sisters, Farrah King (born February 17, 1984), Neosha King (born January 26, 1986) and twins Fallon and Felisha King (born June 5, 1988). They first rose to fame when they teamed up with female hip hop artist Da Brat to record a duet with her, and the finished track, titled 'In Love Wit Chu', was released on 3 March 2003. It was a commercial success in the US, and charted on a number of different charts in the country, such as the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart, and just missed out on breaking the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 44. Their first single on their own was 'Miss P.', which was produced by Jermaine Dupri and featured Da Brat, and which was released on Reprise Records in 2003. After the success of their collaboration with Da Brat, the single was expected to be a hit, but it failed to chart on any major charts in the U.S., or countries other than the girl's own, and it's failure could be attributed to the fact that it had very little exposure other than one performance on Soul Train in May 2003. Due to the commercial failure of its lead single, the group's debut album, 'The Moment', was shelved a few months later, and remains unreleased. After their album was dropped, the group recorded three songs for 'The Powerpuff Girls: Power Pop' soundtrack, with 'Chemical X', 'Power Of A Female', and 'Me And My Girls' all appearing on the record. 

In 2005 the girls began work on another album, which they wrote entirely themselves, and which they considered much more mature than their unreleased previous work. On 21 March 2006, Cherish released their first single in three years, titled 'Do It To It', which was met with a positive critical reception, and it also charted on several Billboard charts. It became their first to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 12, and it was also a major hit in New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany and France. After the success of 'Do It To It', their debut album, 'Unappreciated' (a barbed dig at their record company?), was released on 15 August 2006 on Capitol Records, and it debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. It was also a hit in Japan and the UK, and in January 2009 the title track was released as the second single, but while it was received warmly by critics, it failed to achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. With their career now established, the girls went on to release their second album, 'The Truth', in 2008, as well as a couple more singles, but in Spring 2008 Fallon and Felisha confirmed that they were working on a side project that didn't involve the other two members of the group, and under the name F+F they began recording an album separate from Cherish. 

In early 2009 a track by F+F called 'Infected' was leaked online by an unknown source, and this fuelled rumours that the band was breaking up, and in fact both Farrah and Neosha did exit the group, leaving just the duo of Fallon and Felisha. Despite announcements over the years that the band are getting back together and recording new music, nothing was heard from them until December 2016, when Fallon and Felisha announced during a Facebook live video that they were reuniting as Cherish once again, but would be working on new music as a duo, and that Farrah and Noesha would feature on a number of the songs. However, apart from a trio of singles on the Free The Lyrics label in 2017, nothing more has been heard from them. At their peak they were a tight little band, and their first album didn't really deserve to be canned just because their first single as a group didn't perform as well as their earlier collaboration, and so here is that shelved album from 2003. 

Track listing

01 Intro (feat. Jermaine "J.D." Dupri) 
02 Miss P. (feat. Da Brat)
03 Stay With You  
04 I Won't Leave You  
05 Loving You  
06 Voices Beyond  
07 Better Be Me  
08 Gimmie Some Space  
09 I Thought I Told Ya  
10 I Wanna Be Your Girl  
11 Poisonous  
12 Boyfriend  
13 Power Of The Female  

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' (2001)

Whereas Bob Dylan's previous albums, 'Bob Dylan' and 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan', combined original material and cover songs, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' was the first to feature only original compositions. It consists mostly of stark, sparsely arranged ballads concerning issues such as racism, poverty, and social change, and the title track is one of Dylan's most famous, with many feeling that it captures the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the 1960's. Some critics and fans were not quite as taken with the album as a whole, citing its lack of humour or musical diversity, but it still peaked at No. 20 on the US chart, eventually going gold, and belatedly reaching No. 4 in the UK in 1965. Work had begun on 6 August 1963, at Columbia's Studio A, with Tom Wilson once again as producer for the entire album, and the session yielded a usable take of 'North Country Blues'. Another session at Studio A was held the following day, this time providing master takes of four songs: 'Ballad Of Hollis Brown', 'With God On Our Side', 'Only A Pawn In Their Game', and 'Boots Of Spanish Leather', after which sessions did not resume for more than two months. During the interim, Dylan toured briefly with Joan Baez, performing a number of key concerts that raised his profile in the media, and when he returned to Studio A on 23 October he had six more original compositions ready for recording. Master takes for 'The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll' and 'When The Ship Comes In' came from this date, and on 24 October final takes of 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' and 'One Too Many Mornings' were recorded. The final session took place on 31 October, and the entire session focused on one song — 'Restless Farewell'— whose melody is taken from an Irish-Scots folk song, 'The Parting Glass', and it produced a master take that ultimately closed the album. Almost as soon as the album appeared in February 1964, Peter, Paul and Mary covered 'When The Ship Comes In', and by the following year Manfred Mann had charted with their version of 'With God On Our Side', while The Seekers had recorded the title track and Nina Simone covered 'Ballad Of Hollis Brown'. Most of these versions are from the couple of years following the release of the album, but it took until 1988 before someone tackled 'Only A Pawn In Their Game', and 2001 for a cover of 'Restless Farewell' to follow Joan Baez's version in 1968, so here they all are on this tribute to a classic Dylan album.  

Track listing

01 The Times They Are A-Changin' (The Seekers 1965)
02 Ballad Of Hollis Brown (Nazareth 1973)
03 With God On Our Side (Manfred Mann 1965)
04 One Too Many Mornings (The Beau Brummels 1966)
05 North Country Blues (Joan Baez 1968)
06 Only A Pawn In Their Game (The Lenny Nelson Project 1988)
07 Boots Of Spanish Leather (The Silkie 1965)
08 When The Ship Comes In (Peter, Paul And Mary 1964)
09 The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (Phranc 1985)
10 Restless Farewell (Norman Blake & Peter Ostroushko 2001)

Dua Lipa - All To Myself (2020)

Following the release of her self-titled debut album in 2017, Dua Lipa started working on new material for her second album in January 2018, and in April she issued a collaboration with Calvin Harris on the 'One Kiss' single, which topped the UK Singles Chart for eight weeks, and which went to become the biggest selling song of 2018 in the UK. It was later reported that she would be releasing collaborations with other artists, with the first one being 'Electricity' with Mark Ronson, which came out in September. In January 2019 she released the single 'Swan Song' as part of the soundtrack to the 2019 film 'Alita: Battle Angel', and later announced that she'd spent the preceding year in the writing process for her second studio album, which would be a "nostalgic" pop record that "feels like a dancercise class". Following the release of its lead single 'Don't Start Now', her second album, 'Future Nostalgia', and its accompanying tour were announced in December 2019. The single peaked at number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, where it earned the longest top 10 stay for a British female artist. The second single leading up to the release of the album was 'Physical', which came out in January 2020, and following one more single, 'Break My Heart', 'Future Nostalgia' was issued in March to widespread critical acclaim. It peaked at number one on the Official UK Albums Chart the following week in April 2020, while four of the album's singles entered the top ten of the Official Singles Chart, making her the first British female artist since Vera Lynn to have three top-ten singles in a single calendar year. As with her previous album, Lipa had amassed a vast stock of music that she could pick and choose for inclusion on her second album, and once again they are too good to just be thrown away, and so here is the first of three collections of rejected songs from 2020.

Track listing

01 Ball & Chain
02 Firestarter
03 Better This Way
04 Guilty
05 25-8
06 Talk About It
07 Naked
08 All To Myself
09 Act Of God (feat. Ant Clemons)
10 Delicious
11 Whay I Like
12 If It Ain't Me (feat. Normani)
13 Secrets
14 Love Is Religion

Jason Crest - The Senile Mysteries Of Black Mass (1969)

Formed in Tonbridge, Kent from the ashes of The Good Thing Brigade, Jason Crest were signed to Philips in the latter part of 1967 after being discovered by former Four Pennies bassist Fritz Fryer, who got them a recording contract. The label thought that their name was a little inappropriate so this was duly changed with a slight amendment from one of the group's tracks, 'The Collected Works of Justin Crest'. Within weeks of being spotted, the newly named Jason Crest were in the studio recording their first single, 'Turquoise Tandem Cycle', a debut dubbed by Philips on advertisements as "the first new group of 1968". Over the years this song has often linked them to such bands as Procol Harum and Tomorrow, especially with the former for it's distinctive organ sound, but despite a fair measure of airplay the single failed to click. The same thing happened with their second single 'Juliano The Bull' , nice enough but banned by Radio One after some bright spark suggested it was "promoting blood sports", although they could have just flipped the single, as on this release the b-side, 'Two By The Sea', was actually the stronger of the two songs. After two flopped singles, Philips pulled the plug on the groups original songs and opted for a cover version, the song in question being The Move's '(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree', but the record company's choice of single ended up with the same fate, despite considerable radio play. Bassist Ron Fowler quit around this time, as working in a band and a full time job time didn't mix, especially when the band toured Germany, and so he was replaced by John Selley. After three flops, Philips were desperate for a hit, so Fryer got the band to record one of his own numbers, and a fourth single, the more commercial 'Waterloo Road', was recorded and promptly bombed, which was probably just as well as it's one of their weakest tracks. 

With one single left on the contract, 'A Place In The Sun' was released in 1969, but despite being one of their best recordings, the public were still not convinced, and once again it flopped, although rather surprisingly the strange 'Black Mass' found it's way onto the flip, as Philips had earlier decided that the song was unfit for public consumption. With no success after five singles, the proposed Philips album was cancelled, even though it had already been given a title of 'The Senile Mysteries of Black Mass', and gradually the band drifted apart. Fryer already had a new interest in the emerging The Open Mind, and Philips were in no mood to renew their contract after a series of flops, so Terry Clarke was the first to leave, joining up with London-based outfit Orang Utan, whilst the remaining members continued with new vocalist Brian Prebble and ex-Mike Stuart Span/Leviathan guitarist Brian Bennett under the name of High Broom. In 1971 Clark, Smallcombe and Siggery all sorted out their differences and formed Holy Mackerel, releasing their self-titled album in 1972. There have been two compilations of the band's work released over the years, plus a collection of their radio sessions on the Tenth Planet label, but no-one has ever tried to piece together their cancelled album, so that's what I decided to do, as that way we could just use the best recordings and ditch the lesser singles like 'Waterloo Road' and 'Juliano The Bull'. I've also added in one of their radio sessions which fitted nicely into the running order, and it's all housed in the original artwork, which had already been commissioned before the album was cancelled.   

Track listing

01 Turquoise Tandem Cycle
02 My House Is Burning
03 Two By The Sea
04 Patricia's Dream
05 Black Mass
06 A Place In The Sun
07 Charge Of The Light Brigade 
08 What's It Like?
09 Good Life
10 Teagarden Lane
11 King Of The Castle
12 The Collected Works of Justin Crest

Sam Smith - To Die For (2020)

Samuel Frederick Smith was born on 19 May 1992 Cambridgeshire, and both parents encouraged his singing at a young age, after the budding vocalist impressed them with a rendition of Whitney Houston's 'My Love Is Your Love'. Smith pursued vocal training and soon appeared in local theatre productions and with Youth Music Theatre UK, going through six managers before ultimately moving to London at age 18 to pursue opportunities there. Smith's breakthrough came as a vocalist on Disclosure's 'Latch', which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, and the following year they performed on Naughty Boy's 2013 single 'La La La', which became a UK number one single. Smith's debut studio album, 'In The Lonely Hour', was released in May 2014 through Capitol Records UK, and the second single from the record, 'Money On My Mind', became their second number one single in the UK, as did its follow-up 'Stay With Me'. The album won four awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year, while the song 'Writing's On The Wall' served as the theme for the 2015 James Bond film 'Spectre', and it won a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Smith's second studio album, 'The Thrill Of It All', was released in November 2017 and debuted at number 1 on the UK and US album charts, and its lead single, 'Too Good At Goodbyes' also topped the UK charts. 

On 13 February 2020, they revealed that a third studio album, then titled 'To Die For', was scheduled to be released on 1 May, but a few weeks later it was announced that due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of the third album would be delayed, and there would also be a number of changes to the album track list and title, although it would still be released sometime within 2020. 'I'm Ready', a collaboration with American singer Demi Lovato, was released on 16 April and charted well in the top 40 of several countries, and on 6 July, Smith released a cover of Coldplay's 'Fix You', followed in September by another single, 'Diamonds', following which the new title for the third album was announced as 'Love Goes', and it was released on 30 October. With the release of 'Love Goes', thoughts of 'To Die For' faded away, but tracks meant for it but which were removed were kept, and some appeared as bonus tracks on special editions of 'Love Goes'. There is a tentative track listing for the album out there, which includes some songs which appeared on 'Love Goes', along with a cover of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', and a few otherwise unreleased tracks, and so here is an approximation of what could have been Sam Smith's third album 'To Die For' from 2020. 

Track listing

01 To Die For
02 Dancing With A Stranger (feat. Normani)
03 How Do You Sleep
04 You Will Be Found
05 I Feel Love
06 Love Goes (feat. Labrinth)
07 I'm Ready (feat. Demi Lovato)
08 Sober
09 Promises (feat. Calvin Harris & Fessie Reyez)
10 Heart On My Sleeve
11 Laurel Canyon
12 Fire On Fire
13 Diamonds

The Rolling Stones - Keep It Cool (1982)

The second album extracted from the 'Fully Finished Studio Outtakes' set is dedicated to 1982, as all the tracks come from early sessions in November and December 1982, for what was to be the 1983 'Undercover' album. Once again, notes are from Zen Archer's Aural Surfing Odyssey blog, with corrected years of recording, and when he mentioned that the vocals on 'Keep It Cool' were a little low, I quickly fixed them to sound more audible.  
01 Dreams To Remember (1983)
A classic Stones take on country tonk, Jagger's vocals are variously spoken and screamed while the band bar-room it up in the background. The guitar licks flicker and squeak while the whole track has a cataclysmic tone of collapse. A certain 1970's sound in the vein of John Lennon's 'Walls And Bridges' album. Should be 1982.
02 Still In Love With You (1982)
While we discuss tracks that share DNA with a certain era, this track fits straight in to it's date line. Ponderous, warm, reflective piano and sleepy pedal-steel are enveloped in this delicately produced ballad. Correct year. 
03 I Tried To Talk Her Into It (1982)
A sweet country influenced piece with a great slice of steel guitar. It skips along merrily and wouldn’t sound out of place of any nu-country album released this side of the year 2000. This is longer than the 'Dirty Work Sessions' version too. Correct year. 
04 Part Of The Night (1976)
Also known as 'Golden Caddy' from the Pathé Marconi sessions (as heard on 'Foxes In The Boxes'), this track might as well be 'Never Make You Cry' part two but one where the piano takes the place of the guitar instead. Much later than 1976, at 1982.
05 Keep It Cool (1982)
A clean little number, light piano lines with barely there guitars which drifts at an almost glacial pace. Jagger whispers his vocals at a volume that just barely breaks over the backing. Originally released on 'Foxes In The Boxes', this is the shortest version at just over 5 minutes. Correct year. 
06 Eliza Upchink (1983)
Regards a certain lady of no scruples, this dash of blues runs slightly longer than previously bootlegged at 4:38. Just one year out, as 1982.
07 (You Better) Stop That (1983) 
Short but sweet, very much of it's time and sounding like 'Neighbours', the type of angsty, punky ripple with stabs of electric piano in the background. As above, one year out at 1982. 
08 Can't Find Love (1983)
I think this sounds like George Harrison's/Bob Dylan's 'If Not For You' in the smallest way. At nearly 7 minutes, it's one of the longest tracks on this collection. The mixture also features a Buddy Holly-esque chiming guitar line over a strolling beat. Should be 1982.
09 Cooking Up (1983)
One of the speedier efforts to this set, short speedy guitar riffs as Ronnie and Keith dance around each other and Nicky Hopkins peddles away along side. A curious title to the track, however, it's almost impossible to make out what Mick is singing about. As with all the other tracks, should be 1982.

Track listing 

01 Dreams To Remember 
02 Still In Love With You 
03 I Tried To Talk Her Into It 
04 Part Of The Night 
05 Keep It Cool 
06 Eliza Upchink 
07 (You Better) Stop That 
08 Can't Find Love
09 Cooking Up