Who Wight

UK box-set compiles, for the first time, all the British vocalist's single (A & B-sides), rarities, CD debuts, & 19 previously unreleased tracks. The 64-page booklet is lavishly illustrated with photographs & memorabilia from Sandie's own archive. EMI. 2004. Nothing Comes Easy Review by Bruce Eder
Four CDs and 101 songs may seem like more Sandie Shaw than most listeners would want to own, much less hear – that's what this reviewer thought, until he started going song by song through this set, and damned if there was not one song in this collection, covering her complete single A- and B-sides from 1964 through 1988, that wasn't worth hearing. Indeed, there are revelations throughout, starting with the superb sound and the use of proper first-generation masters on everything here, and the digital production to back it up with a warm, rich sound that's quietly intoxicating and seductive. The evolution of Shaw's style and approach to singing is so gradual that it catches you unaware when she shifts from one style to another – her 1980s sides may be far removed from the British Invasion sides in style, but you hardly notice the incremental moves, from being surrounded by electric rhythm guitars to accompanied by synthesized drums, and she's pretty powerful in either mode. The sound is amazingly crisp throughout, making up for a multitude of sins evident in past compilations of Shaw's work. The fourth disc is made up of rare tracks that, for a change, can be taken as simply more good music by the casual listener, as much as savored by the true fan. The accompanying booklet would also make a pretty good core for a serious hardcover book on Shaw.

Six CD box set. Released by the Major Minor label in 1968, the self-titled July album has long been acknowledged by genre enthusiasts as one of the classic UK psychedelic one-shots, mixing the ambition and experimentation of "Sgt. Pepper" with a lo-fi charm and endearing garage band artlessness. It is also one of the most hotly-pursued artefacts of the British psychedelic era, with an original UK copy (only graded at VG++) recently selling on eBay for around £3700. This definitive six CD overview of the band's activities includes newly-remastered versions of the album in both mono and stereo formats as well as the various single issues, including a completely different recording of album nugget 'The Way'. Disc Three contains The Second Of July, a collection of pre-album demos that appeared in the mid-Nineties to capitalize on the band's growing reputation as original copies of their LP began to sell for increasingly large sums of money. The remainder of the boxed set consists of more recent July recordings following their triumphant return to live work a few years ago. Disc Four is the aborted album Temporal Anomaly, which was recorded circa 2010 but which gains a first-ever release, while Disc 6 is the appropriately-titled Resurrection, which received a limited release in 2013. Disc Six comprises the latest July magnum opus, The Wight Album, which has been pieced together over the last few years by Tom Newman and Peter Cook at Tom's recording studio on the Isle of Wight. Now finally completed, The Wight Album - described by Tom as "the greatest July album" - brings the July story bang up to date. Housed in a clamshell box, and with a 40-page booklet containing a 7000 word essay on the band featuring new quotes and some priceless period photos, The Complete Recordings is an epic look at the studio activities of one of the biggest cults to emerge from the original British psychedelic scene.

Six CD box set. Released by the Major Minor label in 1968, the self-titled July album has long been acknowledged by genre enthusiasts as one of the classic UK psychedelic one-shots, mixing the ambition and experimentation of "Sgt. Pepper" with a lo-fi charm and endearing garage band artlessness. It is also one of the most hotly-pursued artefacts of the British psychedelic era, with an original UK copy (only graded at VG++) recently selling on eBay for around £3700. This definitive six CD overview of the band's activities includes newly-remastered versions of the album in both mono and stereo formats as well as the various single issues, including a completely different recording of album nugget 'The Way'. Disc Three contains The Second Of July, a collection of pre-album demos that appeared in the mid-Nineties to capitalize on the band's growing reputation as original copies of their LP began to sell for increasingly large sums of money. The remainder of the boxed set consists of more recent July recordings following their triumphant return to live work a few years ago. Disc Four is the aborted album Temporal Anomaly, which was recorded circa 2010 but which gains a first-ever release, while Disc 6 is the appropriately-titled Resurrection, which received a limited release in 2013. Disc Six comprises the latest July magnum opus, The Wight Album, which has been pieced together over the last few years by Tom Newman and Peter Cook at Tom's recording studio on the Isle of Wight. Now finally completed, The Wight Album - described by Tom as "the greatest July album" - brings the July story bang up to date. Housed in a clamshell box, and with a 40-page booklet containing a 7000 word essay on the band featuring new quotes and some priceless period photos, The Complete Recordings is an epic look at the studio activities of one of the biggest cults to emerge from the original British psychedelic scene.

A triple box set sampler taking 50 tracks released by Polydor Records between the 1967 and 1974, including songs by by Audience, Arthur Brown, Jack Bruce, Cream, Pink Fairies, Soft Machine, The Who, Tony Williams' Lifetime, John McLaughlin and many more, including some early recordings by familiar names.

The Doors mark the moment when the American rock underground of the 1960s came crashing into the mainstream.
The group's massive influence on the course of rock music may been overshadowed by decades of lionization of their late lead singer Jim Morrison, whose early death wound up being a pivotal part of their legacy.

All these albums are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year! Despite that half-century separation, 1970 remains a very rich and pivotal year for rock, jazz and soul. As the Beatles were breaking up a whole new generation of artists with a new way of making music was breaking through. They were often less carefree—the advent of a darker and harder type of rock (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin) marked the beginnings of metal, while the Stooges had pre-anticipated punk by several years. In addition, 1970 brought us a unifying style of soul, notably with Curtis Mayfield's first album or Funkadelic's frenetic eponymous record. And let's not forget all of these legends, some of which are still around today: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Deep Purple, The Who, Elton John, Rod Stewart…

All these albums are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year! Despite that half-century separation, 1970 remains a very rich and pivotal year for rock, jazz and soul. As the Beatles were breaking up a whole new generation of artists with a new way of making music was breaking through. They were often less carefree—the advent of a darker and harder type of rock (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin) marked the beginnings of metal, while the Stooges had pre-anticipated punk by several years. In addition, 1970 brought us a unifying style of soul, notably with Curtis Mayfield's first album or Funkadelic's frenetic eponymous record. And let's not forget all of these legends, some of which are still around today: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Deep Purple, The Who, Elton John, Rod Stewart…

It's now half-a-century since British folk rock became A Thing, with the early practitioners breaking new ground and inspiring an entire scene that peaked in the late Sixties/early Seventies. Earnest young post-Dylan singer/songwriters moved away from the intimacy of the folk clubs in favour of the nascent college/university circuit. Counter-cultural iconoclasts The Incredible String Band became a seismic influence on a whole raft of bands now categorised as acid-folk, Pentangle's use of acoustic instrumentation within a nominally rock framework attracted many emulators (though arguably no real equals), while Fairport Convention graduated from their initial American West Coast-indebted sound to explore their own country's musical heritage, thus establishing the concept of indigenous English folk rock (a baton that would be picked up by the likes of Ashley Hutchings' post-Fairport venture Steeleye Span and many others).