The Comeback (1978)

Cat Stevens was one of the most popular artists of the '70s. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is very proud to present this numbered, limited-edition 3-disc box set containing the hard-to-find Izitso and two titles exclusive to Mobile Fidelity: Back To Earth and Numbers.
Numbers (1975). Subtitled "A Pythagorean Theory Tale," Numbers was a concept album relating to a faraway galaxy, a planet called Polygor, a palace, and its people, the Polygons. The songs presumably told the tale, but as with so many concept albums, listening to Numbers was like hearing a Broadway cast album without having seen the show - something seemed to be going on, but it was hard to tell what…

BGO Records continues its series of two-fer CD reissues of Johnny Winter's Columbia and Blue Sky LPs with this combination of two successive albums, 1977's Nothin' But the Blues and 1978's White, Hot & Blue. Both discs were informed by Winter's involvement with Muddy Waters, for whom he produced comeback albums prior to each of his own efforts, 1977's Hard Again and 1978's I'm Ready. After the Grammy-winning Hard Again, Winter toured with Waters, and when he came to make Nothin' But the Blues, he recruited Waters and his band as sidemen. (Waters only made a vocal contribution, singing "Walking Thru the Park.") Thus, Winter performed with harmonica player James Cotton and pianist Pinetop Perkins, among others…

In retrospect, it is not hard to find hints of a coming change in the final album Cat Stevens made before a near-death experience and a religious conversion.

For the first time together on one release the career spanning collection from the birth of Visage in 1978 to the final tracks from Steve Strange and Visage before his untimely death in 2015. Visage began in 1978 when Steve Strange and Blitz Club partner-in-crime, Rusty Egan, joined forces with Midge Ure to create a futuristic, synthesizer-led group where style and fashion were matched with experimental, yet accessible music. They recorded their first demos in EMIs Manchester Square studios and soon honed a futuristic, synthesizer-based sound. They recorded their first single "Tar" with Martin Rushent at his Genetic Studio in 1978 (shortly to become the birthplace of the Human League's "Dare" album).

The first half of this CD is quite historic - 17½ minutes from Ernestine Anderson's comeback concert at the 1976 Concord Jazz Festival. One can feel excitement throughout the performance as the audience rediscovers the talented singer, who had not recorded in a decade. Four songs ("Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Days of Wine and Roses," "Stormy Monday" and a soulful "Am I Blue") have swinging and stimulating accompaniment by pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jake Hanna, while a brief "Take the 'A' Train" has Anderson joined by Bill Berry's Big Band. The "London" half of the disc is from a year later and is more laidback and routine, although enjoyable. Backed by an English rhythm section, the singer interprets "My Romance," a four-song Duke Ellington medley, and "Love for Sale" in winning fashion. Overall, this is one of the best in Ernestine Anderson's string of Concord recordings.