REISSUE OF THE 4 FIRST STATUS QUO ALBUMS
REMASTERED AND INCLUDING BONUS TRACKS
Review of "Dog of Two Head" reissue CD by Lee Hawkins
Dog of Two Head - Castle ESM CD 626 - AUGUST 1998
Originally released as Pye NSPL18371 in December 1971, the "Dog" album (as it
became known) marked Quo's change of direction and their familiar brand of
12-bar boogie is strongly evident on this one of their strongest early album efforts.
The original nine track album brought such Quo standards as "Mean Girl",
"Railroad", "Gerdundula" and "Someone's Learning", all live favourites past
and present. Kicking it all off, "Umleitung", an 8 minute epic, through
"Something's Going On In My Head" and culminating in the complete version of
"Nanana" after a couple of interspersed teasers of snippets of the song.
Listening to these songs some 27 years on, they sound vibrant, original,
fresh and exciting, laying the foundation upon which Quo would cement their loyal
following. The quality of the offerings here needs no superlatives - a 1998
set still including three songs from this 1971 recording pays testament to both
their popularity and ability to stand up alongside some of Quo's best
tracks.
As an added bonus, this CD also boasts five previously unreleased versions
of Quo tracks. "Tune To The Music" is presented via a different mix to the
original and sounds exuberant with its very forward vocals and pacy guitar
work, only spoiled by an incomplete finish. Another new mix follows, this
time in the form of "Good Thinking (Batman)", notable as one of Quo's few
instrumentals. Originally destined for the Dog album itself, this track took
some time to surface, not being released by Pye until 1981. The mix here is
much more keyboard heavy than that release, giving a more honky-tonk feel.
Another track which lurked in the Pye vaults for far too long, "Time To Fly",
is next up - originally seen on Pye's "Fresh Quota" in 1981 but seen here
as an out-take of the Dog album. An alternate version of the ditty "Nanana" starts
with a mistake from Francis (then being called "Mike"), then restarts and
rewards with an ultimately relaxed version of the song, Francis' vocals are
effortless and the guitar work is far less tight than the album version. To
round things off, an alternate version of that Quo classic "Mean Girl" which
features harmonising vocals from Rick.
The CD comes nicely packaged with well researched liner notes and, at its
mid-price pitching, is a must for all serious Quo fans, not only for the
unreleased bonus tracks but as (perhaps unrequired) impetus to re-explore
the Dog album itself.
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Subject: Review of "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" reissue CD by Lee Hawkins
Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon - Castle ESM CD 621
The album which more than any other signalled a change of direction for late
60s boy band Status Quo, "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon", was released in October
1970 (with Pye catalogue number NSPL18344). Heralded by the wonderful single
"Down The Dustpipe", the album featured none of the psychedelic restraint of
their previous offerings and saw them break free of their record company's
shackles to produce the first of many albums showing their true colours.
The original album consisted of ten tracks, more bluesy and rock oriented
than anything previously seen on Status Quo albums. From the mournful ballad
"Everything" to the raucous "Shy Fly", from the blues numbers "Spinning
Wheel Blues" and "Lazy Poker Blues" to the now classic "Junior's Wailing" and "Is
It Really Me/Gotta Go Home". None of the tracks from the album made A-side
singles in the UK, but "Everything" and "Lakky Lady" made the B-sides of "Mean Girl"
and "Gerdundula" respectively. "Spinning Wheel Blues" was released as a=
single in Europe though. If the album was not a great source of singles, it
provided the standards of early Quo live sets, with "Junior's Wailing" being a
permanent feature and the combo of "Is It Really Me" and "Gotta Go Home" being the
first of Quo's mammoth live pieces, only surpassed perhaps in later years by
"Forty Five Hundred Times".
The reissue CD combines the familiar ten tracks of the original release of
"Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" with four previously unreleased versions of known
tracks. The first of these is an alternate mix of "In My Chair", a song which was
to be a great success for Quo following its release in October 1970 to coincide with
the album release, both as a single and a live track which the fans took to
their hearts. Still cropping up every few years in the live set even today,
"In My Chair" shows Quo can be something more than a hard-hitting rock act and the
song marks another turning point for Quo - as Francis notes on the "Live!"
album recorded in 1976, this is a song "which did a lot to get us where we
possibly are" !! The alternate mix on offer here sounds like it was
recorded in a shoe box, with terrible echo on Francis' vocals but musically as solid as
the released version - at least until the incomplete ending. Another live
favourite, which made a welcome reappearance to the live set in 1994, comes
next with an alternative mix of "Gerdundula" - an untypical Quo song
perhaps, but one which again demonstrated their ability to turn their hand to the
slower, more restrained numbers along with the brain-busting heavy rock
tracks.
This mix sees Francis' vocals being very distant and echoed again, with very
prominent guitar and a different take on the climax to the song. The next
new
version is of "Down The Dustpipe", the single which introduced "Ma Kelly's
Greasy Spoon" and set the tone for all the Quo which was to come. Gone were
the ridiculous psychadelic offerings and out came the unmistakable boogie, so
long stifled by commercial pressures from Pye. This alternate mix is fantastic
all two and a bit minutes of it - the vocals are in your face and there's a
different guitar fill all through the vocals, plus alternative guitar solos.
The song is again unfinished. The CD is rounded off in style with an
alternate mix of "Junior's Wailing", but the vocals are so distant that it almost
becomes an instrumental and much of the guitar work is muffled as well.
Well packaged and with good liner notes, the reissue of "Ma Kelly's Greasy
Spoon" is an excellent archive piece and should form part of every fan's
collection. Not the first time this album has been put out onto CD, but this
time the effort is much better and the additional four unreleased mixes are
historical pieces which should not be missed.
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Review of "Spare Parts" reissue CD by Lee Hawkins
Spare Parts - Castle ESM CD 625
Status Quo's second album, "Spare Parts", was released in August 1969, hot
off the back of "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages" (originally on Pye
NSPL18301). Within eleven months of the debut album, a further dozen tracks
spelled this new album. The overpowering influence of their commitment to
their record label is obvious in this collection of psychedelic songs, showing
little if any of the direction that Quo would take only a few months later with
their departures into the boogie style which would begin with "Ma Kelly's Greasy
Spoon" and, even moreso, "Dog of Two Head".
The original album of twelve tracks was seen as fodder for only one A-side
single, that being the ballad "Are You Growing Tired of My Love" which was
not chart successful. It provided two B-sides, "Face Without A Soul" being the
backing of "Down The Dustpipe" and "Little Miss Nothing" for "The Price of
Love". The band's lack of enthusiasm for the type of music deemed fit for
This album is clear through many of the songs, which show little inspiration or
passion. Notable are "Antique Angelique" (the first Rossi/Young composition),
"So Ends Another Life" (penned by Alan Lancaster alone) and "When I Awake" a
joint Young and Lancaster effort). It's hard to imagine this as an album
from the Status Quo we are familiar with and perhaps it should be viewed instead
as the product of a new and naive band being groomed by their management and
record company to conform to the mood of the time.
This reissue CD also provides five bonus tracks in addition to the standard
dozen tracks of the original "Spare Parts". The mono mix of "The Price Of
Love" is reproduced as per the single release and sounds somewhat different to the
various other CD renditions of this track (which are offered in stereo). The
original Pye mix of "Josie" is next up, a track which only saw the light of
dayvia Pye's "Fresh Quota" in 1981. This is a strange Quo song but asurprisingly
effective one, questioning as it does man's new found skills in venturing
into the alien world of space. Another "Fresh Quota" number, "Do You Live In
Fire", is provided with its original mix again and sees Alan Lancaster in one of
his relatively few lead vocal performances. The track "You're Just What I Was
Looking For Today" has been discovered as an out-take under the title "Hey
Little Woman" and this out-take is presented as an unreleased version. The
mix here is richer than the original and it really sounds quite a piece, almost
orchestral. Finally, the only single of the album, "Are You Growing Tired
Of My Love", is given in mono form and, unsurprisingly, sounds less spacious than
The original.This mid-priced reissue CD is worthy of consideration for collectors who
cannot resist the extra tracks, although these bonus tracks are not quite so
important as others available on the CDs in this series. The original "Spare Parts"
material is not of particularly high quality and is more than adequately
represented elsewhere, particularly via the multitude of Pye eras compilations
that Quo seem to attract. The liner notes on this particular member of this
Pye reissue series are not as well researched as the others, but provides
adequate coverage nonetheless.
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Review of "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages" reissue CD by Lee Hawkins
Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo - Castle ESM CD 620
The first of, as it turned out, many albums from the band which would become
simply Status Quo - "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status
Quo" not only stands out as a debut album with a very silly name, but one which
would become a reminder of what Quo would move away from rather than building
upon, at least stylistically. Originally released in September 1968 (as Pye
NSPL18220), the debut album consists of a dozen pop tracks, culminating in
the
now classic "Pictures of Matchstick Men". As a 30th anniversary of this
album
release looms large, the reissue CD presents the original twelve songs
carefully remastered.
As is the norm with debut albums, single releases flowed from "PMM" - "Black
Veils of Melancholy", "Ice In The Sun", "Technicolour Dreams" and "Pictures
Of Matchstick Men" made A-sides and other tracks also found their way onto
B-sides. The twelve songs represent a collection of cover versions and
band-penned material, and overall the standard of material is good. "Ice In
The Sun", "Elizabeth Dreams", "Spicks and Specks", "Sheila" and "Pictures of
Matchstick Men" are all quality songs, performed well and presented here in
very clear and impressive style. One of Quo's strangest tracks to date,
"Paradise Flats", is included here as well and sounds more worrying every
time you hear it ! Notable also is "Sunny Cellophane Skies" for it is an early
example of Alan Lancaster at work lyrically and "Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk
Cafe" is a quirky little love song that tells an all too familiar story.
In addition to the original twelve tracks, the reissue CD also boasts three
bonus tracks. First up is an original mono mix of "To Be Free", the B-side=
of "Black Veils of Melancholy" and one of the few tracks penned by original
keyboard player Roy Lynes and featuring prominent keyboards. A previously
unreleased version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" comes next, with unique
guitar filler to the vocals and harmonies on the chorus. To complete the
CD, an alternate mix of the bizarre "Paradise Flats", apparently labelled on the
original multi-track tape boxes as "Paradise Hats" !!
The album which started the long and successful career of Status Quo has been
carefully considered on this reissue CD and the bonus tracks ensure its
place on every collector's "must have" list, simply to complete the early history
of the band in a way which no other currently available recording can offer.
