THE NICE REMASTERS DUE ON CHARISMA/EMI

The Nice Charisma releases have now been given the full remastering treatment and all feature extensive liner notes from Mark Powell.

1) ‘Autumn 1967 And Spring 1968′ “This compilation was gathered together in 1972 by Tony Stratton-Smith for release on Charisma Records and features alternate mixes of material recorded by The Nice between Autumn 1967 and Spring 1968″

1. The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack (2009 Digital Remaster)
2. Flower King Of Flies (2009 Digital Remaster)
3. Bonnie K (2009 Digital Remaster)
4. America (2009 Digital Remaster)
5. Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon (2009 Digital Remaster)
6. Dawn (2009 Digital Remaster)
7. Tantalising Maggie (2009 Digital Remaster)
8. Cry Of Eugene (2009 Digital Remaster)
9. Daddy, Where Did I Come From? (2009 Digital Remaster)
10. Azirial (2009 Digital Remaster)
11. Diary Of An Empty Day (2009 Digital Remaster)

2) ‘Elegy’ “This expanded and remastered edition of “Elegy” includes two tracks from the final recording session by The Nice for a BBC Radio One “Sounds of the Seventies” session – Recorded 6th April 1970″

1. Hang On To A Dream (2009 Digital Remaster)
2. My Back Pages (2009 Digital Remaster)
3. Third Movement: Pathetique (2009 Digital Remaster)
4. America (Second Amendment) (2009 Digital Remaster)
5. Country Pie (BBC Radio 1′s ”Sounds Of The Seventies”)
6. Pathetique (Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement) (BBC Radio 1′s ”Sounds Of The Seventies”)

3) ‘Five Bridges’ “The album Five Bridges was released in May 1970 and would prove to be the most commercially successful album by the band to date. The album featured highlights of the Fairfield Hall concert, alongside a recording of “Country Pie / Brandenburg Concerto No. 6” recorded at the Fillmore East in December 1970 and the studio track “One of Those People”. This newly expanded and remastered edition of the album adds the Fairfield Hall concert encore as a bonus track, alongside a previously unreleased studio overdubbed version of “Country Pie” from the Fillmore East and the April 1970 BBC radio session version of “Five Bridges””

1. Fantasia: 1st Bridge / 2nd Bridge (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
2. Chorale: 3rd Bridge (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
3. High Level Fugue: 4th Bridge (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
4. Finale: 5th Bridge (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
5. Intermezzo: Karelia Suite (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
6. Pathetique (Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement) (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
7. Country Pie / Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
8. One Of Those People (Live) (2009 Digital Remaster)
9. Fairfield Hall Finale: Lieutenant Kijo / Rondo / She Belongs To Me
10. Country Pie (Studio Version)
11. Excerpts From The Five Bridges Suite (BBC Radio 1′s ”Sounds Of The Seventies”)

4) ‘Fillmore East 1969′ (2CD) “Nearly forty years on from the Nice’s Fillmore Concerts of December 1969 the original 8-track master tapes were discovered whilst researching remastered editions of “Five Bridges” and “Elegy”, including alternate unedited performances of “She Belongs to Me” and “Country Pie”, along with material previously unreleased on either vinyl or CD.

CD 1
1. Rondo (Live At Fillmore East)
2. Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Live At Fillmore East)
3. Little Arabella (Live At Fillmore East)
4. She Belongs To Me (Live At Fillmore East)

CD 2
1. Country Pie (Live At Fillmore East)
2. Five Bridges Suite (Live At Fillmore East)
3. Hang On To A Dream (Live At Fillmore East)
4. Intermezzo: Karelia Suite (Live At Fillmore East)
5. America (Live At Fillmore East)
6. War And Peace (Live At Fillmore East)

Source: EMI

AVERAGE WHITE BAND REISSUES AND RARITIES

THE AVERAGE WHITE BAND came out of the fertile Scottish music scene in the early 1970s, and their second album, recorded for the legendary Atlantic Records label and released in August, 1974, saw the band achieve their commercial breakthrough, with the smash hit single, Pick Up The Pieces, a skin-tight piece of instrumental Funk that is probably playing on a radio station somewhere in the world as you read this.

From then on, the band were up and running, and despite the death of drummer Robbie McIntosh of a drugs overdose, soldiered on to become a massive success not only in the UK, but also in the USA, where their innate feel for funk, old-school R&B and soul styles earned them the admiration and respect of US music ian s, and hit big with an American audience eager to dig into the band’s compulsive grooves. Indeed, their glittering catalogue includes such mighty recordings as Queen of My Soul, If I Ever Lose This Heaven and Let’s Go Round Again, irrepressible slabs of hook-laden, intensely danceable Funk.

Since departing from the band line-up in 1982, when they originally went their separate guitarist / vocalist Hamish Stuart has been far from idle; in the late eighties and early 1990’s, Hamish was a member of SIR PAUL McCARTNEY’S touring and recording band, and in recent years, has opened his own ‘Gastropub’ in Kent!

He has also pursued an absorbing solo career, and his magnificently soulful high tenor voice is still in superb shape. Hamish performs at the 606 Club in Chelsea every month, an event that has become a ‘must-see’ show for music fans of taste and discernment.

THE AVERAGE WHITE BAND, led by founder-member ALAN GORRIE, reformed in the early 1990s, and are still going strong today.

Of particular interest is the first release on cd of their first album and previously unreleased second album.

* Playing their own brand of soul, the Average White Band rocketed to fame and fortune in late 1974 with their absolute classic eponymous second album (usually known as the “White Album”) and the accompanying single “Pick Up The Pieces”, an instantly recognisable and perennial classic, and a staple of `gold’ radio stations around the world. Both the album and single reached #1 on the US pop charts – in the UK, both reached # 6.

* This package starts with the band’s first album “Show Your Hand”, originally released on MCA in 1973 and never previously issued on CD in Europe. The album is expanded to feature eight bonus tracks, seven of which are previously unreleased. The first three of these date from the band’s first ever session together in Denmark Street in 1971, the remainder from a session at Island’s studios later the same year. The eighth bonus track is the rare non-album single “How Can You Go Home?” (also making its CD debut).

* The second disc commences with what was intended to be the band’s second album for MCA, “How Sweet Can You Get?”. However MCA rejected it, and it was only ever issued as part of a “White Album” package many years later. We have now created its intended sleeve for the first time for this special release.

* Producer Arif Mardin heard the songs, signed the band to Atlantic Records and set about re-recording eight of the songs along with two new compositions. The resulting album “Average White Band” was issued in September 1974 and was sitting at the top of the charts by Christmas (along with “Pick Up The Pieces”), going on to spend a whole year in the listings.