1. CD Review: Roy Ayres Ubiquity- Red, Black & Green  

Roy Ayres, younger people know him best as the "king of acid jazz", but us "old heads" know better…

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Roy Ayres - Red, Black & Green

I was supposed to write about the CD last week, but I haven't because I wanted to take the time to listen to it at least 3 times in different settings. In fact I'm listening to it again right now. Yesterday I listened to it in the car during my daily commute.

Of course I remember when the album first came out and have actually heard the songs from it many times before, so the music itself is hardly a revelation. However the context when I first heard this music was quite different in 1973, than it is today, so it was interesting for me to understand those differences.

For me Roy Ayres was an artist who was one of the ones who truly introduced me to jazz. Of course I had heard jazz in my home while growing up, but that was different. It was different because it was forced down my throat by my parents....lol

Artists like Roy Ayres, Miles Davis & Donald Byrd were the ones who truly introduced me to jazz. Their music of the early to mid 70's as specifically marketed to young Black teenagers. For example, the album cover of "Red, Black & Green " was distinctive in that it used the colors of the "Black Liberation Flag" to send a not too subliminal message to us that Roy just might be "militant", which of course me and my peers ate up....lol

(Donald Byrd's LP called "Black Byrd" around the same time, used a similar technique)

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Roy Ayres Ubiquity - Red, Black & Green

Nice thing about this re-issue of the album from our friends at HIP-O Select is that (as with the rest of their stuff) they use the ORIGINAL LP cover, liner notes, LP cardboard, etc.

So naturally it made me feel a tinge of nostalgia looking at it.

Listening to it now, despite whatever I may have thought when I was a teenager, the music is hardly "militant" at all. In fact if there is a message at all in the music of Roy Ayres - Red, Black & Green it can be captured in just a single phrase...

"MONSTER GROOVE"

However if you wanna get a taste of that "MONSTER GROOVE", u betta hurry up and get it NOW, cuz I'm told that there only 5,000 of these CD's that are going to be available!

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Roy Ayres Ubiquity - Red, Black & Green

This is a CD filled with some truly great Jazz instrumental covers of then current soul music hits like "Ain't No Sunshine", "Day Dreaming" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", with Roy Ayres "smokin" on vibes. Of course the original title cut called "Red, Black & Green", is a seriously consciousness raising cut that today seems harmless. However back in the day my friends and I could be heard humming/mumming those words all of the time, right in tune with the marketing strategy of Polydor records.....lol

This is not to suggest that Roy Ayres was being disinguious.
I have no doubt that the whole "Red, Black & Green" concept was something that was quite close to him and he had to fight for it with the record company. However I also think that he probably sold them on the idea based on that concept being able to reach the eyes and ears of people (like me for example) who weren't accustomed to buying jazz albums.

(And guess what, it worked....lol)

This is the type of CD that you just put on and leave on. The MONSTER GROOVE is there on every song and is so hypnotic that you will want to eventually just put it on the "repeat" function of your CD player, so you won't have to worry about getting up to play it again.

Roy Ayres Ubiquity - Red, Black & Green
Track Listing

1. Ain't No Sunshine
2. Henceforth
3. Day Dreaming
4. Red Black & Green
5. Cocoa Butter
6. Rhythms Of Your Mind
7. Papa Was A Rolling Stone

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Roy Ayres Ubiquity - Red, Black & Green

--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net

2. CD Review: Buddy Miles Express -"Expressway To Your Skull"

Yes indeed folks there once was a time...

"Long haired hippies and Afro Blacks all get together across the tracks and have a BIG PARTY..."
--Get On The Good Foot (James Brown)

And I was fortunate enough to be a part of it. And now with the reissue by our friends at HIP-O Select we can relive it all over again. (Without any of the "bad acid"......lol)

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Buddy Miles Express -"Expressway To Your Skull"

The first thing that I noticed when I opened up this CD was the unique packaging.
The packaging is "unique", in that it is totally familiar. The "packaging" is EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL LP. (as is the case with all of the CD's from HIP-O Select)

The CD package is made from cardboard that is the exact same texture & feel as an LP, "gatefold" style (remember using them to "clean stems".....lol), containing the ORIGINAL cover art, liner notes, track listings, credits, etc and the CD itself comes in an "album sleeve" which slides out (just like on an LP). So in fact it totally "retro/low tech".

Now in this case (as I'm sure in others from HIP-O Select) this is of particular importance, because as some of you will recall, on the ORIGINAL "Expressway To Your Skull" LP the liner notes were written by none other than JIMI HENDRIX and here those liner notes are preserved in their original form.

As far as the music itself, this is what I would call a "fusion album". It's a "fusion" of Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Soul & Funk

I think that Buddy at cut it around the same time as Hendrix did "South Saturn Delta", so it's got something in common with that, however this does not sound like "a Band of Gypsy's album". Instead it sounded like Buddy Miles was trying to do something a little different. To my ears it sounds mostly like an attempt to bring some GUT BUCKET SOUL MUSIC to the "rock audience". And in my opinion "Expressway To Your Skull" succeeds in doing so musically.

Taken on strictly musical terms "Expressway To Your Skull" is a winner.

From a "marketing perspective" it was a disaster for Mercury Records when it was first released:
- It was probably seen as "too soulful" for the late 60's "rock audience".
- It was probably seen as "too rockish" for Black AM radio stations to play at that time

And that my friend is the continuing paradox of our friend Buddy Miles:
- That's why he hasn't (and probably never will be) recognized by the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame
- That's why he hasn't (and probably never will be) recognized by the R&B Foundation

Those entities may never recognize the GREATNESS of Buddy Miles. He was able to hit the nail right on the "sweet spot" where Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Soul & Funk all meet and for his achievement in doing so Buddy Miles will continue to be penalized and under recognized.

In some sense Buddy was perhaps a bit ahead of his time.

"Expressway To Your Skull" should have been released say in the mid 1980's. Remember that period of time when artists like Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Healy and others were headlining massive Blues festivals across the United States and around the world? They were basically playing the same type of music that can be heard being played by the Buddy Miles Express on "Expressway To Your Skull". Had "Expressway To Your Skull" been released in the mid 80's, the record company wouldn't have had a problem in figuring out how to "market it" and our friend Buddy would have become a BIG star on that same mid 80's "blues circuit" that made artists like Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Healy and others into BIG STARS.

(and if that had happened, than there is no doubt in my mind that today Buddy Miles would be in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame)

However at this point, isn't that really a "moot point"?

In my opinion the REAL POINT is that we as fans now have the opportunity to revisit this groundbreaking album, if we missed it the first time around because we didn't fit into the original "marketing program" of the record company or if we were too young at that time.

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Buddy Miles Express -"Expressway To Your Skull"

I think that this is a good album for younger people to listen to.
It will help them to understand exactly what the phrase...
"Long haired hippies and Afro Blacks all get together across the tracks and have a BIG PARTY..."
(Was all about in the late 60's & early 70's)

And it will help them put into perspective the tragedy of what has happened since that time…

But if the want it, they betta hurry up and get it NOW, cuz I'm told that there only 5,000 of these CD's that are going to be available!

Buddy Miles Express -"Expressway To Your Skull" Track Listing

1. Train
2. Let Your Lovelight Shine
3. Don't Mess With Cupid
4. Funky Mule
5. You're The One That I Adore
6. Wrap It Up
7. Spot On The Wall

"They took an EXPRESS, straight to an ELECTRIC CHURCH..."
--"Rev" Jimi Hendrix

HIP-O Select reissue on CD of the Buddy Miles Express -"Expressway To Your Skull"



--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net

4. CD Review: In Japan - The Temptations

Just what we need, yet another Temptations reissue...(ho hum).
Well that's what I was thinking, until I actually opened up this little gem and threw it into the CD player.

In Japan - The Temptations from HIP-O Select

 

Here is the track listing for In Japan - The Temptations

1. Plastic Man
2. I Can't Get Next To You
3. Love Woke Me Up This Morning
4. Medley: Get Ready - My Girl - The Way You Do The Things You Do
5. The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)
6. Hey Girl (I Like Your Style)
7. Cloud Nine
8. Introduction Of Band And Group
9. A Song For You
10. Masterpiece
11. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
12. Papa Was A Rolling Stone

These songs should all be quite familiar to you if you are reading this in the first place. However what's different for me is that this is a LIVE show with the Temptations, from 1973, featuring Dennis Edwards in his prime and backed by a crack FUNK band (under the musical direction of Mr. Cornelius Grant).

(It's a badd azz show)

In addition to being a great concert, there are also some interesting moments
(That only happen during live shows)

1. Melvin Franklin was the emcee of the show and does all of the introductions
(That was a surprise to me)

2. At the beginning of "The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)" the Temptations/band go into this SERIOUSLY HARD CORE EAST COAST STYLE SLOW JAM/DOO WOP STYLE HARMONIZING to the point where I expected to hear the voice of Harry Ray (of the Moments next....lol)

3. They must have been warming up, cuz right after here comes Richard Street taking the lead on the then current "new release" Hey Girl (I Like Your Style), which to me was a MONSTER DOO WOP STYLE song (and also my own personal favorite Temptations "slow jam")

4. First time for me hearing the song "Cloud Nine" live

5. etc

In Japan - The Temptations from HIP-O Select

The packaging is also EXACTLY true to what the original was. The CD package is made from cardboard that is the exact same texture & feel as an LP, containing the ORIGINAL cover art, liner notes, track listings, credits, etc and the CD itself comes in an "album sleeve" which slides out (just like on an LP). It also comes with what must have been a poster in the original?? (remember when they used to sometimes give u a poster inside of albums???). This poster contains the lyrics to the songs done at the concert. On one side the lyrics are in
English and the other side the lyrics are in Japanese.

btw... this one was produced by Harry W.
& it's also limited to 5000 individually numbered copies

I don't remember this when it first came out. That's because the concert LP was NEVER released in the United States. But I'm glad it's been reissued, I'm really enjoying listening to this concert, especially since never saw the Temptations perform live during this period of time. And since I'm sure that there are many other folks out there who never saw them live during this period, this CD becomes an "essential" one to own, because it serves as a time capsule of the evolution of their sound, captured live in the early-mid 70's'.

In Japan - The Temptations from HIP-O Select


--Bob Davis
earthjuice@prodigy.net