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Long John Baldry Boogie Woogie: The Warner Bros. Recordings Release Date: 2005 Label: Rhino Handmade Rating:

This double pack, limited to 2500 copies, reissues Long John Baldry's long out of print -- at least in the States -- Warner Brothers albums from the early '70s, adding a handful of additional tracks (alternate versions, radio spots, unreleased songs) to each. Boogie Woogie: The Warner Bros. Recordings includes 1971's It Ain't Easy and 1972's Everything Stops for Tea, which were co-produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart -- neither whom had attained major popularity yet -- who worked on one album side per disc. Although Sid Griffin's generally insightful liner notes that describe these releases as "some of the best British blues rock to grace black vinyl" may be overstating their importance, there is a fair amount of genuinely solid music here. For the most part, Baldry covered American blues in his uniquely ornate British style, which not surprisingly didn't resonate with U.S. audiences the way say, the Rolling Stones did. His was a more studied albeit eclectic approach, dipping into New Orleans pop ("Iko Iko"), U.K. music hall ("Everything Stops for Tea"), traditional folk ("Mother Ain't Dead" with Rod Stewart on vocals and banjo!) and gospel along with some memorable Willie Dixon tunes ("Seventh Son," "I'm Ready," "You Can't Judge a Book"). It Ain't Easy's first five selections feature members of what would later be Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story band backing up Baldry, and is considered a stepping stone to that classic recording. Baldry isn't the most magnetic performer, but his gruff voice has a certain charm, and even if the material is a bit erratic, he is obviously enjoying himself. A boisterous Baldry tears into the slow blues "Bring My Baby Back to Me" from 1972's Mar-Y-Sol Festival as one of disc two's extras. He also goes country, rather convincingly, for a lovely cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart." The only clear classic here is the rollicking "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll," a terrific rocking underground hit that was Baldry's only stab on American radio. While that may not be worth the rather inflated price of this limited-edition reissue, these albums are both intermittently enjoyable and Rhino has done its usual classy job repackaging them with remastered sound and rare pictures. Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide

Tracks:

	Title	Composer	Time
1	Intro: Conditional Discharge	Baldry, Armitt	3:16
2	Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll	Thomas	3:25
3	Black Girl	Ledbetter	2:51
4	It Ain't Easy	Davies	4:54
5	Morning Morning	Kupferberg	2:37
6	I'm Ready	Dixon	4:14
7	Let's Burn Down the Cornfield	Newman	4:16
8	Mr. Rubin	Duncan	4:06
9	Rock Me When He's Gone	John, Taupin	4:08
10	Flying	Wood, Stewart, Lane	7:00
11	Going Down Slow [#][*]	Oden	3:11
12	Blues (Cornbread, Meat and Molasses) [#][*]	McGhee, Terry	3:00
13	Love in Vain [#][*]	Johnson	4:22
14	Midnight Hour Blues [#][*]	Carr	4:09
15	Black Girl [Alternate Version][#][*]	Ledbetter	3:35
16	It Ain't Easy [Alternate Version][#][*]	Davies	5:10
17	I'm Ready [Alternate Version][#][*]	Dixon	4:17
18	Radio Spot [*]	Baldry	0:29
19	Intro: Come Back Again	Wilson	4:06
20	Seventh Son	Dixon	3:07
21	Wild Mountain Thyme	Traditional	3:50
22	Iko Iko	Jones, Jones, Thomas, Jones	3:11
23	Jubilee Cloud	Leroy, Kongos	4:16
24	Everything Stops for Tea	Hoffman, Sigler, Goodhart	3:09
25	You Can't Judge a Book	Dixon	4:22
26	Mother Ain't Dead	Traditional	2:56
27	Hambone	Mitchell	4:03
28	Lord Remember Me	Pharne	4:08
29	Armit's Trousers	Armitt	1:54
30	Radio Spot #1 [*]	Baldry	1:06
31	Bring My Baby Back to Me [Live at Mar-Y-Sol Festival][Live][#][*]	Baldry	6:27
32	Only Love Can Break Your Heart [#][*]	Young	3:13
33	I'm Just a Rake & Rambling Boy [#][*]	Davies	3:28
34	Radio Spot #2 [*]	Baldry	0:57

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