Unleash This Man-Malcolm Roberts-A Genius In Chains

The cover is psychedelic; the back cover is square as square can be, and my emotions whilst listening to this album similarly veer from Wo! to No! in quick succession. The thing is this: I am totally knocked out by the voice of this cat, but the tired, overcooked material that he is given to interpret, leaves barely any room for him to bring anything fresh or new to the proceedings. I love the voice, I hate the lack of thought behind this debut...

Our Song- What a voice! Shades of Matt Monroe, even a bit of Scott Walker when Malcolm really opens up those pipes, but totally unique in any case-a perfect blend of study and soul. Love it, love it. A corker of a vibrato when he choses to unleash it, but never too much. I feel like one lucky boy sitting here in my London listening cave.

There Will Never Be Another You-charming orchestral opening, beautiful arrangement. Man! I love it. Mr Roberts oozes sophistication, charm and most importantly SINCERITY. I am a little bit in awe of this singer.

Be My Love-Mr Roberts comes in a little bombastically for my tastes on this, and in fact his delivery is just a tad too precise here; perfect West-End show style that doesn't sound quite so appropriate for a studio performance. A great show-case for his vocal power though-some really earth shattering notes, but the track just doesn't give me chills like the first two.

Laura-Malcolm Roberts is right back where I like him on this Johnny Mercer classic. With subtlety and mellowness, the vocals just work work work. Less is more guys, give us intimacy over power Mr producer....

All The Things You Are-A bit dull

The Night We Said Goodbye- a gently funkier groove, and great to hear the man trusted with some less familiar material. This is worth ten lackluster American Songbook exhumations.

Side Two:

Time Alone Will Tell- Too square for the man... The mandolins conspire to turn this into a wretched ice cream advert...

Misty- A clever arrangement idea has this kicking off with the middle 8 instead of verse 1. Despite another desperately unimaginative song choice, Malcolm does sing the hell out of it-with an amazing note plucked right out of the heavens at the start of the final verse. Top marks to the singer, bottom marks to the producer.

Where Or When- terribly dated, with a backing- vocal arrangement which would have sounded jaded in the 1940s let alone late 1960s.

My Foolish Heart- Stunningly sung, but again, I really really yearn for some less familiar material. Amazing singing at the conclusion...

Love Is A Many Splendored Thing- BORING, leave this overdone shit for any 2nd and 3rd league singers, give our Mr Roberts something cool. Of course he does a great job, but so would Michael Ball for chrissakes...

Tonight-A cool swinging tempo given to the West Side Story staple, and one can palpably hear the singer relishing the change of pace. Halfway through it, the arrangement gets a bit too London Palladium for me (frenzied rhythm section, wailing brass and one can imagine the cabaret cast and crew running out onto the stage to give their bows etc etc...) Yet another fantastic vocal tour de force at the end, leaving the listener in no doubt whatsoever about the vocal mastery on offer here, but very much in doubt over the point of constantly giving the record buying public new artists singing songs we could all sing in our sleep.

I believe in you Mr Roberts....

Details:

Artist: Malcolm Roberts

Album: Mr Roberts

Label: RCA Victor Mono RD 7940

Year: 1968

BACKWARDS MESSAGES, HORNY HOUSEWIVES AND BIRO

I have a fetish for buying the kinds of records that were made to be sold only at gigs, probably cruise ships or working mens clubs. Often, when my magpie eyes spy them, they will be signed by the original artist (and there are few more poignant sights than a signed record by an unknown artist.)

The attraction of these recordings, is that they are not made for any artistic/creative purpose, generally they are intended to simply act as a straight recreation/ memento of the live show. And yet, human beings seldom do what they are expected to, especially when they get in the studio for the first time.

The disc that I turn my attention to today ticks all of these boxes.

Dave Arnold. There's Dave on the front with his trusty Gibson guitar and floppy bow tie.

And in blue biro, carefully written on the bottom right corner of the sleeve:

"To Rose, Love Dave Arnold." We'll never know the story behind the simple message, did he fancy her, was she grim, was her husband glaring at Dave from the other end of the bar as he scribbled the message. So many questions....

But I imagine Rose getting a little misty eyed when she puts on the EP and coyly relives the night she caught his show. Maybe, after a few too many sherries, she frantically forces the record backwards, desperately searching for hidden messages in the fade- outs... I know I have...

Try A Little Kindness Beautifully inappropriate synthesizer, gurgling and popping throughout an otherwise fine arrangement of this brisk country number, a hit for Glen Campbell. Dave plays and sings nicely. Something bad happens to the drumming just before the second chorus, but he catches up with himself again quickly enough.

For The Good Times Dave does a decent job on this Kris Kristofferson standard, once again Kelvin Futers commits dozens of sins on his keyboard rig. There seem to be a couple of rhythm issues every now and then here also, closer inspection reveals that the drummer is the brother of the synth player, the Futers brothers, Kelvin and Malcolm. According to the sleeve, Dave refers to his instrumental accompaniment as, simply, and poetically "Inspiration." Inspiring.

Top Of The World Nothing wrong with Dave's vocals, warm and happy, and always bang on tune. Even Kelvin the keyboard king reigns in his maverick tastes here, and intrudes rather less on these strictly MOR proceedings. The drumming is shocking.

Side 2:

Spanish Harlem/Spanish Eyes The cheeky medley. Keyboards again seem better behaved, maybe the producer had a word during the cigarette break in the parking lot, and begged Kelvin to give Dave's vocals more space. One can imagine the conversation

"Kelvin, for Christ's sake, this isn't Prog. We're simply making a nice demo disk for Dave to sell on the ships, why do you put all that weird shit over everything.." Whether or not this exchange or a similar one ever took place, there is a marked change in Kelvin's technique a few tracks in..

Bridge Over Troubled Water Sounds like the sustain pedal wasn't working properly during the keyboard/piano intro. But no fear, there is a string (synth) arrangement for Kelvin to get his teeth into. It sounds like a one- taker to me though. There are definitely a few keyboard licks that would have benefitted from a few re-takes. Not Dave's best vocal performance either, he just sounds too English on these lyrics; too chirpy, like he's doggedly grinning at all the old dears on the front row of the hall despite singing this ode to despair, fellowship and and deliverance. I bet Dave and "Inspiration" discussed whether or not to put the equally bombastic My Way on this EP, it would have had the same overwhelming result=underwhelming.

With a flourish on the cymbals, Dave and "Inspiration" leave the studio and head down the pub for a game of darts, some pickled onions and a flirt with the bar maid. Good on you Dave.

P.S on looking at the record label itself, I notice that none other than Kelvin Futers is credited as producer, which makes my imagined conversation between producer and Kelvin impossible. Or does it?

Details:

Artist: Dave Arnold

Album: Dave Arnold (EP)

Label: Stag Music MAG 0002

Year: 1975

OF DIRTY WEEKENDS AND MYSTICAL UNIONS

I had never heard of them, I was intrigued that the album had to be played at the usual single spinning setting of 45rpm, I had never heard of Special Delivery Records and was also strangely moved by the thought that if my cousin Olly Pearson and I had made the record we used to fantasize about cutting when we were wide eyed, guitar strumming, harmony hurling teens, the cover would have probably looked a bit like this one (cheap, slightly awkward and totally Everly Brothers obsessed.) All of these things and more, conspired to make me take the platter to the nonchalant, nail painting girl behind the charity shoppe counter and part with the paltry £1.99.

I get back home, I slip unnoticed into the listening cave. I look at the back of the record sleeve. I recognize the producer's name. The older you get, the more stuff lingers on your neurological hard-drive. The Panic Brothers are produced here by Clive Gregson, he sounded familiar, hailing back to my days as a folk club kid, sitting with my uncle and his musician friends, usually in Hitchin Folk Club, Hertfordshire. I'm sure I'd seen Clive do his thing down there on more than one occasion. The record collectors' world truly is the smallest of worlds (and it spins and spins and spins.)

BIVOUAC Think Everly Brothers singing “Lucille” yet belting their lungs out about the negative aspects of cramped living accommodation. I was primed to mock it, but the enthusiasm and clever machine gun lyric spitting of the pair makes for an invigorating album opener. Ace twangy Duane Eddy style guitar, and vibrant rockabilly backing.

No News Kicks off the with the best Everly Brothers riff that never was. There’s more of an Elvis Costello/ Nick Lowe atmosphere on this one. And that’s good from where I sit. All finishes with the intro riff again, making everything right in this curious late 80s/ late 50s time warp.

I Made A Mess Of A Dirty Weekend What a title, what a song.

“A seaside town is the last resort

When you mess up a dirty weekend.”

Anybody ever heard the Everly tune “Poor Jenny.” Well this is like a dirty redux of that joyous romp through teenage misadventures. Musically, there is an authentic country/hillbilly stomp adding an insanely festive feel to this hymn dedicated to emphatically NOT scoring. If I ever have cause to DJ, (I can’t imagine anybody ever asking me) this will be one of the tunes I’ll cue at the end of the evening-and I’ll dedicate it to all the guys and gals who came to pull, but didn’t quite manage it

Repo Man

“Run if you can,

From the repo man.”

A more direct, less tongue- in- cheek approach here, all well played and performed. Fine folkie fiddle from Ed Korolyk, and more of that lovely twangy guitar from Clive Gregson. Nothing mind boggling though.

Almost As Blue As Hank Williams A pastiche cod country weepy, and to my mind the only weak moment on side 1. I can imagine it raising loads of laughter in some humour starved singer songwriter night, but not one that I’ll listen to for kicks again. Well sung, and well crafted however, as is pretty much everything on this forgotten long player.

Side 2:

In Debt A wee bit too similar to Bivouac, really fast lyrics and brisk acoustic guitars. The chorus is a sly borrowing of Roy Orbison’s Claudette (itself an Everly Brothers hit.) No doubt this one really cooked live, but it underwhelms a little in this recorded guise.

Later Than You Think More substance here. Again shades of Elvis Costello, intelligent lyrics, and an honest, 'played less for the laughs' quality to the voices

I’m Broke In Everything But My Heart It might just be me, but I’m beginning to get a tiny bit bored of the frequency of matters fiscal, debt and ruin. Compared to the glory of “I Made A Mess Of A Dirty Weekend” this is half -baked. Pleasant, but totally forgettable.

The Late Night Picture Show A more mellow intro, aside from the annoying wood block, a welcome change of pace. I feel we’re back on track here. Perhaps a little redolent of “Labeled With Love” from Squeeze, a fine, wordy, mid tempo piece. Nice accordion, fine double bass, reassuring melodic progressions and, we can take this much for granted by now, really well honed vocals.

I’ve Forgotten What It Is That I Was Drinking To Forget A real corker to finish this little gem of an album with. Just piano, the Panic siblings, a lovely tune and some awesome, heartfelt words

“I’ve been talking to myself ever since the day I was born.”

God, the harmonies here are just stunning, I hate to keep harping back to the Everly clan but that’s the easiest, and closest point of reference. I like this album a lot, and there are a couple of tracks here that I will most certainly seek out again, and herein lies the bewitchery of claiming someone else's discarded old records; we can only speculate as to what drew the original owner to possess the vinyl specimen in the first instance, yet we have a mystical union with them the moment the needle hits the groove, and just for a moment, we here, and them there, are united in listening.

The Panic Brothers were Reg Meuross and Richard Morton

Details:

Artist: The Panic Brothers

Album: In The Red

Label: Special Delivery SPM 1003

Year: 1987