Here are my 30 favourite Reissues and Archival Recordings for 2017. It’s a list that bears no resemblance at all to my 50 Favourite New Albums of the year. And in no way is it a ‘balanced’ list in terms of genres featured. When it comes to reissued albums or old live recordings, four types of music dominate my purchases: 26 out of these 30 albums fall into one of the following categories…
Reggae
Jazz
African music
Jerry Garcia / the Grateful Dead
I found it impossible to put them in a straight 30 down to 1 ranking order, so I’m presenting nos 21 to 30 in alphabetical order, followed by nos 11 to 20 in alphabetical order, followed by the top 10, also in alphabetical order.
So, here we go, then:
Nos 21 to 30 in alphabetical order
Tom Armstrong – The Sky is an Empty Eye
Reissue of 1987 private-pressing album by US guitarist. Nine rather lovely instrumental acoustic guitar workouts and one rather dodgy vocal number.
Elroy Bailey – Red Hot Dub
Bailey is/was the bass player of veteran UK reggae band Black Slate. There’s scant information about this album, other than the tracks may be dubs of old Pablo Gad material. Nice set, though. Well worth checking out.
Michael Chapman/Hiss Golden Messenger – Parallelogram A La Carte
In 2015, Three Lobed recordings released a 5LP set called “Parallelograms”, with each of the ten sides devoted to a different artist. This year, the LPs were reissued individually, and the Michael Chapman/Hiss Golden Messenger album is well worth getting if you’re a fan of either artist.
Dollar Brand – Cape Town Fringe
Vinyl reissue of a fine 1977 set by the South African pianist who’s now known as Abdullah Ibrahim. Two longish tracks.
Eureka Brass Band – Dirges
A field recording made in New Orleans one Sunday Afternoon in 1951. In a funeral procession, a brass band plays incredibly heavy dirges on the way to the graveyard. Not easy listening, but good stuff.
Jerry Garcia Band – GarciaLive Volume Eight: November 23, 1991 Bradley Center
Decent Milwukee show by the 1991 incarnation of the JGB. Contains very acceptable covers of material by Clapton, Dylan, Van the Man, the Band, Bruce Cockburn, etc. Also contains a version of “Reuben and Cherise,” one of my very favourite Garcia/Hunter songs, which the Dead only performed four times.
Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Vol. 22: Felt Forum, NYC 12/6 & 7/71
Fall ’71 seems to be a favourite era for Dave Lemieux Here we have two shows from the small venue in the basement of Madison Square Garden. There’s no “Dark Star,” sadly, and so the jams come in the form of “Smokestack Lightning” and “The Other One”. Nice to have, I suppose, but hardly essential for the non-obsessed fan.
Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Vol. 24: Berkeley, CA, 8/25/72
The final gig from the band’s run at the Berkeley Community Theatre, a mere 2 days before the legendary Veneta festival show immortalised in the film/album “Sunshine Daydream.” It’s an unusually short show for mid-72, because an unexpected curfew had been imposed. It’s enjoyable enough, since all 72 Dead is worth hearing, but for the neophyte, the two essential shows from August/September 1972 remain ‘Sunshine Daydream’ and ‘Dick’s Picks 36’ (Specturm Philadelphia).
John Martyn – Head And Heart: The Acoustic John Martyn
John Martyn was, by all accounts, not a very nice man. But he wrote and played some beautiful music. Here’s an exemplary 2-disc compilation of acoustic material from the Island years.
Augustus Pablo – The Red Sea
Black Solidarity put out a vinyl reissue of this – some of Pablo’s earliest melodica recordings. They were all sides recorded for Herman Chin Loy at Randy’s from around 1970 to 1973. It’s that magical Pablo sound in embryonic form.
Right. That’s it for now. Back later today or tomorrow with numbers 11 to 20.
As someone who only recently (ie during 2017) has started to dip my toes in to the giant Grateful Dead pool, this could be worth exploring. And any guidance is, of course, most welcome.
Well really, Neela, the most sensible three words of advice I could give you would be: DON’T DO IT! Otherwise, in a few years’ time, you’ll end up like me, with 250 Grateful Dead CDs cluttering up your shelves, no money, an incurable addition to the Dead, and about 100 identical versions of “Me and My Uncle” to listen to.
However, if you choose not to heed this advice, you could try the following two 4CD collections. With both of them, you get plenty of Dead from two years when their live shows were at their boldest and most groundbreaking. There’s a broad range of styles across the music played, with some excellent short songs mixed with some classic jams.
1. Steppin’ Out With The Grateful Dead: England ’72
2. Ladies And Gentlemen… The Grateful Dead: Fillmore East, New York City, April 1971
These two sets are also freely available for a reasonable price. If you wander into the world of full shows in the limited edition series of Dick’s Picks (36 albums) Road Trips (17 albums) and Dave’s Picks (24 albums and counting) you’ll find things get pretty expensive. But naturally, there are real treasures to be mined here.
In addition to the two highlights of classic runs of shows in 71 and 72 above, I’d say that you also need to get a show from the vintage Dead year of 1977. The obvious choice, I suppose, is the legendary Barton Hall show in Ithaca which was finally released this year:
3. Cornell 5/8/77
And, of course, the Grateful Dead Archive is a tremendous resource:
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead
Happy hunting!
An increasingly close friend of mine is quite the Dead Head. He´s introduced me to Live Dead, Workingman´s Dead, American Beauty and Europe ´72, all of which I like, and Anthems Of The Sun and Aoxomoxoa, which, well, maybe I haven´t done enough drugs.
I think the first four I mentioned are considered four of their best.
And thanks for you concern. But honestly, I can quit whenever I want. I just need one more for the weekend. I promise not to inhale. I´ll pay you next week. Please.
“But honestly, I can quit whenever I want.”
I wonder how many Deadheass said that!
Caveat emptor!
Mate of mine re introduced ourselves to space cookies the other weekend. How’d they go? Well over 4 hours of one dead concert played in sequence later- very well thanks.
Just ONE more quick sniff. Pleeeeeease! It’s my last.
Despite only buying reissues, 2017 has been a relatively quiet year.
Many reasons for this:
1. Falling over quality product for pennies in charity shops … Jimi’s “Blues” and “Stages,” Bob’s Bootleg Series 1-3, a Grateful Dead 2-cd live show from ’68, Townes Van Zandt, “Pet Sounds” mono and stereo, four Beatles Capitol albums etc. etc.
2. Not prepared to fork out a small fortune for 1 or 2 worthwhile CDs in a box set (e.g. The Rolling Stones in Mono last year, The Who 45s this year).
3. Even high profile releases are not to found in my preferred venue of purchase, the local High Street.
4. Vinly only releases (the farce that is The Beatles Xmas flexis).
So this is the meagre list:
5. “Sgt. Pepper’s” – exciting to buy it, played for a week, still my least favourite Beatles album.
4. Frank Zappa – Greasy Love Songs: relieved of its appalling 1980s tinkering. Haven’t really got into it yet.
3. Mojo – free CD of psychedelia in the last issue.
2. Mojo – the Gospel CD.
1. The Rolling Stones On Air – not as good as it could have been, but with the Stones you learn to value the crumbs.
Bright Phoebus by Lal and Mike Waterson has been my reissue of the year by a mile.
(sings) “Sha-dy la-dy, now’s the time to get yourself a tan”
Oh yes, that’s a great album. I bought it a few years ago, and had forgotten that it had been reissued this year.
Admittedly in a bit of a hurry, but HMV Oxford Street, Sister Ray in Berwick Street and Selectadisc didn’t have it on the wet Thursday I was in London (didn’t have time/remember to go to Fopp), and the two record shops in Truro, including another HMV, also didn’t have it.
Rather than the ravenous-for-your-money reputation the record industry has, in my experience the loot I’m carrying is invariably still in place at the end of the afternoon. Even for the Stones BBC release it was only on the fourth attempt that I got the 2-CD version.
Might have to be an amazon-job in the new year.
Okey-dokey, then, Afterworders. It’s time to continue with the second part of the rundown, namely…
Nos 11 to 20 in alphabetical order
Vincent Ahehehinnou – Best Woman
In 1978, Vincent Ahehehinnou had to make a hasty exit from the Beninese supergroup the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou after their manager threatened to kill him if he stayed in the band. Ahehehinnou made his way to Nigeria and recorded this album, consisting of four long tracks of funky afrobeat. Recommended if you like Fela Kuti.
John Gordon – Erotica Suite
Reissue of a classic Strata-East modal jazz album from 1978. Trombonist Gordon leads his sextet through forty minutes of indubitably spiritual funkiness.
Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Vol. 21: Boston Garden, Boston, MA 4/2/73
Spring 73 Dead at one of the band’s favourite New England venues. A long show: 34 Tracks. The highlight – predictably – is the immense main second set jam from “Here Comes Sunshine” to “China Doll. Although, having said that, the whole show is well-played. A safe bet on the part of Dave Lemieux, and a strong Pick.
King Tubby’s – Presents: Soundclash Dubplate Style, Pt. 2
Ten tasty soundclash dubs from the early digital era, mixed at Tubby’s studio by Fitzie Banton (the accompanying vial cuts are on Part 1 of the set). Each track is introduced in fine style by Fuzzy Jones. Also, an extra point for the classic Paco Dennis artwork on the sleeve.
Amadou Binta Konte & Tidiane Thiam – Waande Kadde
The great Sahel Sounds label does it again. Two guys from northern Senegal on guitar and hoddu playing instrumental pieces. The 18-minute track on side 2 of the vinyl is a cracker. Hang on a minute [checks sleeve notes] this isn’t a reissue at all – it’s new material. Oh dear. It should’ve been in my Top 50 New Albums of the Year list last week. Oh well … it’s still a good record.
https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/waande-kadde
Mankunku Quartet – Yakhal’ Inkomo
Hats off to Jazzman Records for reissuing this classic slice of South African jazz from 1968 by tenor saxman Winston Ngozi’s quartet. The band cover a couple of tunes by Horace Silver and John Coltrane, but the real meat here are the two Ngozi originals, including a marvellous tribute to Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.
Georges-Edouard Nouel – Chodo
The French label Rebirth on Wax put out a vinyl reissue of the only solo album by the Martiniquan jazz keyboardman Georges-Edouard Nouel, which originally came out in 1975. A top-drawer spiritual jazz recording mad available again.
Augustus Pablo – King David’s Melody
Very solid collection of 11 of Pablo’s Jamaican singles from 1975 to 1982. An impeccable list of players, of course including Robbie Shakespeare, Chinna Smith, Horsemouth Wallace, and Leroy Sibbles out of the Heptones.
Tradition – Captain Ganja and the Space Patrol
Ultra-obscure north London dub album initially put out in 1980 and now resurrected by Bristol’s Bokeh Versions. Extremely relaxed, spacey and generally cosmic.
https://bokehversions.bandcamp.com/album/captain-ganja-and-the-space-patrol
Various Artists (Jazzman Records) – Spiritual Jazz 7: Islam
Over the past nine years, Jazzman has released seven volumes of its “Spiritual Jazz” compilations, and the average standard has been extremely high. This time, the focus is on the Eastern-influenced sounds of African American jazz musicians from the 1950s to 1980s who converted to Islam – guys like Yusef Lateef and Sahib Shihab.
Right. That’s it for now. I’ll be back later today or tomorrow morning with the humdinging top 10.
Interesting way to categorise. You can’t choose 30 to 1, but can distinguish between a top 10 album and one that is between 11 and 20 or 21 and 30. Why not just put them all in alphabetical order? 😉
@duco01 have you explored the 70s Sth African jazz / jazz funk reissues by Matsuli ? A real labour of love is their work.
https://www.matsulimusic.com/
Yes, I’ve got three Matsuli releases:
– the CD of “Batsumi” by Batsumi
– the CD of “One Night on Earth” by the incredible Derek Gripper, who seems to be able to make his 6-string guitar sound like a kora
– the vinyl LP of Inhlupeko/Distress by the Soul Jazzmen
All three are terrific. Hats off to Matsuli and all other labels working tirelessly to unearth hidden gems from the past and make them available to toady’s music lovers!
there is a new reissue of a Dollar Brand concert and also a collaboration between Johnny Dyani a long time collaborator with DB/AI and a turkish musician. They’re on my shopping list.
Right: here we go with the third and final part of the list: my favourite 10 favourite Reissues and Archival Recordings from 2017, in alphabetical order
Errol Brown – Dubb Everlasting / Dub Expression
This is my reggae reissue of the year. Two obscure but superb dub albums emanating from Sonia Pottinger’s Treasure Isle studio in 1975 and 1978. Both were engineered by Errol Brown (not to be confused with the baldy Hot Chocolate vocalist of the same name). The blurb on the back of the CD package declares the albums to be “hard and heavy,” but I’m not sure I really agree with that. I’d say that they’re relatively light and melodious, in that borderland territory between dub and instrumental reggae that I like so much.
https://errolbrown.bandcamp.com/releases
Chicago – Chicago II
I’d been meaning to check out the early, brass-heavy, loud guitary Chicago albums for years, and Steven Wilson’s brand new remix of the band’s second opus, from 1970, was just the ticket.
Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders – GarciaLive Volume Nine: August 11, 1974, Keystone Berkeley
Jerry Garcia’s various collaborations with keyboardman/vocalist Merl Saunders were the loosest, funkiest music he ever made, and this super Bay Area show from 1974 is the perfect evidence. The 17-minute soul instrumental “La La” by flautist Martin Fierro is a) brilliant and b) about the furthest from the Grateful Dead that Jerry’s music ever got.
Grateful Dead – Cornell 5/8/77
The most famous Grateful Dead concert of all time finally got a release. The first third of the show is nothing special, really, but then it takes off in a BIG way, including justifiably celebrated versions of “Dancing in the Street,” “Scarlet>Fire” and “Morning Dew.”
Grateful Dead – Dave’s Picks Vol. 23: Eugene, OR 1/22/78
The early part of 1978 really has been a happy hunting ground for Grateful Dead archivists. This is the famous “Close Encounters” show, wherein Garcia, in the second set jam, quotes the five-note alien spaceship’s code from the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” In fact, the whole of the second set is a wonder, while the first set includes fierce, high-octane versions of “Tennessee Jed” and “Jack Straw”. Unquestionably one of the very best Picks in Dave Lemieux’s ongoing series, which currently stands at 24 releases.
Thelonious Monk – Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 1960
In the landmark year for jazz – 1959 – Thelonious Sphere Mink was engaged to do the soundtrack for Roger Vadim’s film “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”. It wasn’t new music composed specifically for the film, just a run-through of some of his best-known material, bashed out with his quintet one July day in a studio on 57th Street in New York. Like many jazz albums recorded quickly and without great ceremony, it sounds absolutely great. On tenor sax that day was Barney Wilen – who turns up again later in this list.
Augustus Pablo – Africa Must be Free by 1983 Dub
Hugh Mundell’s “Africa Must be Free by 1983” regularly features in those “Best Reggae Albums of all time” lists that one sees occasionally. I don’t wish to sound churlish here, but I’ve always found the album slightly over-rated. However, the accompanying dub set, mixed by the original album’s producer Augustus Pablo, is unequivocally a classic, and VP Records’ 2017 reissue of it is most welcome.
U-Roy – Version Galore
If you’re a fan of deejay music from Jamaica, you’ll know this classic set from around 1970. U-Roy does a bit of toasting over a collection of rocksteady singles, the most famous of which is the Paragons’ “The Tide is High”, later taken to No.1 in the UK singles charts by Blondie. Enormous fun.
Various Artists – Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa
There’s ‘underground’ music and then there’s music which is – quite literally – under ground. Up until 1988, Radio Hargeisa held the master tapes of 50 years’ worth of classic recordings by Somaliland artists. When civil war broke out, the radio station was the target of airstrikes by Somali government forces. Luckily, the historic recordings were removed from the station in time, taken to secret locations in Djibouti and Ethiopia, and buried in the ground. Decades later, in an absolute labour of love by Ostinato Records, the tapes have been unearthed and presented to a grateful world; it’s one of the most copiously annotated single CD albums I’ve ever seen. The performances here are scintillating: I guarantee it’s the best compilation of vintage Somaliland recordings you’ll ever hear.
Barney Wilen – Moshi
This is an incredible album, and the result of a remarkable project. In 1970, French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, nine fellow musicians, and a couple of filmmakers piled into 3 Land Rovers with the intention of driving from Tangiers to Zanzibar, making music with anyone they came across. They even packed a couple of live mongooses, in case they encountered any nasty snakes. They planned to be on the road for three months; in fact, they were away for two years. And they never made it to Zanzibar. Civil wars caused them to change course, and they ended up wending their way through francophone Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Senegal. At every stop they lived with local peoples, made music, and recorded some of it. The tangible result of this once-in-a-lifetime undertaking was a double LP, “Moshi,” released in 1972. And what an extraordinary mix of styles it is. Some of it seems to be bare-bones field chanting, while there are a couple of very accessible pop-funk numbers sung in English. Most of it, though sounds like the second Miles Davis quintet jamming with one of Baaba Maal’s early bands. Bizarre, and utterly beguiling. If you’re of a jazzy persuasion, you need this album in your life.
https://blogthehum.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/on-the-long-awaited-reissue-of-barney-wilens-moshi-by-souffle-continu/
That’s it!
//duco
Cheers, duco. How to blow umpteen quid in about fifteen minutes. Thanks for the heads-up on the Pablo/Mundell disc – I’d missed that one coming out – and thanks for the Barney Wilen shout; looking forward to deciding if I’ve wasted those particular sponds.
Woo hoo finishing with a flourish. Those last 2 have me enticed. Somaliland on Spotify too.
Lots of interesting stuff on this list. I’m really looking forward to giving Moshi a listen. What a story!
It is on Spotify, as are several of the others.
Documentary film-maker Caroline De Bendern accompanied Barney on his African Odyssey and made this film which is included as an extra with the CD.
https://blogthehum.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/caroline-de-benderns-a-lintention-de-mlle-issoufou-a-bilma-1971-with-its-incredible-barney-wilen-soundtrack/
An interview in French about the project
http://lejarsjasejazz.over-blog.com/article-caroline-de-bendern-raconte-moshi-aventure-humaine-et-artistique-en-afrique-avec-barney-wilen-104215092.html
The two Barney Wilen entries in this Top 10 have me in a bit of a tizz…
…I have Les Liaisons Dangereuses from 1960, but it is by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, which also features BW on tenor sax.
It seems I need to get Moshi which will, no doubt, go well with my Moshi Too (credited to Barney Wilen and Caroline de Benderns), which I think contains outtakes and tracks not featured on the former?
Don’t worry, both ‘soundtracks’ are very different. Monk’s music was used to sound-bed the action. He uses his then rhythm section of Taylor & Jones with Rouse and Wilen on horns. The Art Blakey music is the extensive party music in the film, featuring Lee Morgan and Wilen, again, on horns. Wilen is the only common denominator. The Monk recordings, captured in one day in New York, were only recently discovered in Wilen’s manager’s lock up.
It’s like Sweet Smell Of Success where Elmer Bernstein soundtracks the movie but Tony Curtis plays a budding jazz musician with Chico Hamilton providing the band and the Jazz music.
Thank you!
Moshi Too is out-takes from the original album. With two years pf travelling, it is scarcely surprising that they had a lot of material.
https://www.kudosrecords.co.uk/release/sonoc72/barney-wilen-moshi-too.html
Interesting to read that Caroline, who was something of a cult figure from Paris 68, later married Barney.
… and fervently anti-Brexit.
Not much to dislike, even if £21 is a hell of a lot for a single CD!
Thanks Deram. She is an interesting woman!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/caroline-de-bendern-paris-1968-brexit-xenophobia.
Hilarious quote about that Paris photo which cost her the loss of her inheritance.
“If you hold a flag, you obviously think about that [Delacroix] painting,” she said, as she prepared to head to London for this weekend’s protest. Would she have done anything differently to recreate the masterpiece? “I should have bared my breast. She had such awesome breasts.”
Actor, model, icon, disgraced aristocrat, film maker: the 60s seem to have been full of interesting people like this. Makes me think of Peter Sinfield who got mentioned on the Lyrics thread. Another talented person living a cosmopolitan life and dabbling in many different fields.
To my shame, Barney Wilen was a new name for me. Born in Nice, the son of an American dentist turned inventor(!) and French mother, he got his break when Miles Davis recruited him to play on the soundtrack for Louis Malle’s Lift to the Scaffold in 1958. A legendary session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW-SxgZViuk
An interesting career in which he explored many musical genres.
http://www.barneywilen.com/
Here is a clip posted by his son.
My Jazz Neighbour tells me there is a street in Nice named after Barney. Great article about him by Richard Williams. https://thebluemoment.com/2014/02/03/apropos-of-barney-wilen/
Allee Barmey Willen!
http://www.nicerendezvous.com/allee-barney-wilen.html
What a list – never heard of most of it apart from Mr Wilen.
I trust you will already have PM’d the top ten to Mr L of Wrongness for his prior approval and wild endorsement?
That’s a great list: I definitely need to hear more of that next year. My choice is in no special order:
Various: Even a Tree Can Shed Tears. Potentially game changing primer on Japanese underground rock from the 1970s
Lal & Mike Waterstone: Bright Phoebus. Agree with comments above
The Creation: Action Painting. Smart, US-only ( Numero Uno label) anthology and remaster of the Mod legend’s complete recordings that didn’t seem to make any waves.
Various: Noise Reduction System. Cherry Red label 4CD set of European electronica from the 1970s. Admirably ambitious and scholarly survey, if not to all tastes.
Various: Space, Energy, and Light. Soul Jazz Records collection of ambient/ New Age recordings from the 1970s.
The Mojo CD of German ‘Krautrock’. A very satisfying collection of some lesser known material.
Looking forward to Husker Du and Residents albums next year, and more Jazz is necessary.