After submersing himself on tour with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends after the break-up of the supergroup Blind Faith, guitarist Eric Clapton worked with Delaney Bramlett and members of the band like keyboardist Bobby Whitlock and sax player Bobby Keys in creating his self-titled 1970 solo debut. The album spawned a Top 20 hit with Clapton’s cover of J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight,” the album itself hitting #13 on the Billboard magazine albums chart.
It would be almost four years until the guitarist would record a follow-up to Eric Clapton (I’m not counting the Derek & the Dominos LP), during which time he struggled with heroin addiction. Aside from a brief appearance in August 1971 at friend George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, Clapton was a virtual recluse. Another friend, the Who’s Pete Townshend, convinced Clapton to commit to a “comeback” performance in January 1973. Held at London’s Rainbow Theatre, the guitarist was backed by a number of talented compatriots, including former Blind Faith bandmates Steve Winwood and Rick Grech, Traffic’s Jim Capaldi, the Faces’ Ron Wood, Townshend and others.
The show was a resounding success, resulting in the release of the Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert album in September 1973. Despite Clapton’s lengthy hiatus from music, the album sold like gangbusters, going Top 20 in both the U.S. and the U.K. On December 2nd, 2014 Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity label will add to its impressive run of Clapton reissues with a limited edition, re-mastered release of Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert on glorious 180gr vinyl. The LP includes the original album’s six performances, over half an hour of music on two sides, including red-hot takes of Cream’s “Badge,” Blind Faith’s “Presence Of The Lord,” Clapton’s version of “After Midnight,” and a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s classic “Little Wing.” The album is an often-overlooked item in Clapton’s extensive back catalog, and now it’s back on vinyl where it belongs!
Audio Fidelity is in the Eric Clapton business in a big way, releasing several of the guitarist’s albums as high-quality hybrid SACDs, and on November 25th, 2014 the label will reissue Clapton’s Time Pieces, one of the best of glut of compilation albums released under the Clapton name. Time Pieces documents some of the best of Clapton’s 1970s-era work, including hit chart-topping “I Shot The Sheriff,” from his 1974 comeback album 461 Ocean Boulevard, and the full-length album version of Derek & the Dominos’ “Layla.”
Originally released in 1982, Time Pieces also included a rare non-album track among its eleven songs – Clapton’s take on Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Most of the rest of the comp was culled from either 461 Ocean Boulevard (“Willie & the Hand Jive,” “Let It Grow”) or 1977’s Slowhand (“Wonderful Tonight,” “Cocaine,” “Lay Down Sally”) with only “After Midnight” included from Clapton’s solo debut, and one track apiece from Backless and There’s One In Every Crowd. Still, Time Pieces is worthy of a sonic upgrade, and the music inside the grooves is timeless, representing some of Clapton’s best and most memorable performances.
Guitarist Peter Banks was a criminally-underrated talent who passed away too damn young in March 2013. A founding member of progressive-rock legends Yes, Banks left the band after a couple of years and two albums to form Flash, which pursued a similar style of prog-rock, scoring a Top 40 album with its self-titled 1972 debut.
Banks broke-up Flash after the release of the band’s third album in 1973, releasing his solo debut album Two Sides of Peter Banks later that year. Banks evidently suffered from a restless muse, because after releasing his solo album he formed Empire with singer/songwriter Sidonie Jordan (nee Sydney Foxx, and Banks' future wife). Fronted by Jordan’s powerful, bluesy vocals, Empire released three albums during the mid-to-late 1970s before dissolving into obscurity. The band’s albums (simple titled Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III) never received U.S. distribution, and would subsequently become coveted collectibles by rabid prog fans.
For long-suffering Banks fans that have been looking for new music from the underrated artist, Gonzo Multimedia has released The Mars Tapes, a two-disc collection credited to "Peter Banks Empire" that rescues a treasure of long-lost Empire recordings. The album features unreleased material culled from the band’s 1979 rehearsals for their Mark III album. The band was rooted at Mars Studio in Los Angeles for six months while working on the album, recording almost everything they played for posterity, resulting in the wealth of unheard music represented by The Mars Tapes. Empire at the time included Banks and Jordan, keyboardist Paul Delph, bassist Brad Stephenson, and drummer Mark Murdock.
In a press release for The Mars Tapes, Murdock says “the Peter Banks Empire ship set sail against the ever-changing music world, and was uncompromising in producing a range of material with Peter Banks’ ‘Signature Guitar Sound and Style,’ while incorporating themes of the time period in which the band existed and also reliving the past by playing songs from the early Empire catalog and even a Yes version of ‘Something’s Coming.’ There are various tracks on The Mars Tapes that also represented a ‘Work In Progress,’ which were both instrumental and vocal orientated. Empire was anticipating to make some big waves in the music scene, but the waves never reached the shore – until now!"
If you're a prog-rock fan unfamiliar with the six-string skills of Peter Banks, you owe it to yourself to find out more about a guitarist that sits alongside legends like Robert Fripp, Steve Howe, and Steve Hackett in terms of talent and influence.
The late Jack Bruce made a lot of great music before his death last month, and just about everything he recorded during his lengthy career – his work with Cream, the power trio West, Bruce & Laing, and his numerous solo albums, from Songs For A Tailor and Harmony Row to this year's Silver Rails – features expressive, imaginative, entertaining, and adventuresome music.
Way back in 1993, Jack Bruce celebrated his 50th birthday with a pair of November shows at the E-Werk in Cologne, Germany that featured a number of his famous and talented friends. Former Cream drummer Ginger Baker made the party, as did noted British saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith (who played on Bruce’s early solo albums) and former Humble Pie guitarist Clem Clempson. Funkadelic guitarist Bernie Worrell and former Thin Lizzy guitarist and solo star Gary Moore joined the celebration, as did a number of other special guests like singer Maggie Reilly, pianist Gary Husband, and drummer Simon Phillips.
The performances were taped for the popular German TV show Rockpalast, and parts of them were originally released in 1994 as the two-disc Cities of the Heart. Sadly, that album suffered from poor distribution, and the concerts virtually disappeared memory. On December 2, 2014 however our good friends at MVD Entertainment are resurrecting this important slice of rock ‘n’ roll history with the release of The 50th Birthday Concerts starring Jack Bruce and friends.
The performances will be released in a number of formats, including a double-DVD set featuring almost four hours of music; a three-disc set that includes the two DVDs and a bonus CD, The Lost Tracks, as well as a 12-page booklet with new liner notes and unreleased photos; and a deluxe four-disc box set with three DVDs and the CD, the bonus DVD including interview footage.
Reflecting the entirety of Bruce’s career, The 50th Birthday Concerts includes a smorgasbord of rock, blues, and jazz music including many gems from the Cream songbook like “Sunshine of Your Love” (featuring Bruce’s legendary bass riff), “White Room,” “Politician,” and “Spoonful,” as well as the classic “Theme From An Imaginary Western,” from Bruce’s 1969 solo debut Songs For A Tailor. A number of previously unreleased songs that have been sitting in the archives will be included on the new set, including versions of “Blues You Can’t Lose” and the acoustic “Rope Ladder To The Moon,” and alternative performances of other songs.
The 50th Birthday Concerts is a fitting tribute to one of the rock music world’s essential talents, and for those unfamiliar with Jack Bruce’s enormous musical legacy, it’s also a good place to discover an incredible artist.
This week’s video madness comes courtesy of Swedish heavy rockers Siena Root, who have a lot more on the ball than the usual “stoner rock” outfit. “The Way You Turn” displays some nuanced instrumentation to go along with the aural bludgeoning, the band’s hard-rocking sound evincing the same sort of “devil may care” experimental vibe as the best mid-1970s period Black Sabbath, but with a contemporary edge honed to a fine point by three decades of pioneering heavy metal. While Siena Root certainly has a sound rooted in the classic rock era of bands like Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Uriah Heep they manage to bring plenty of their own creative electricity to the game.
“The Way You Turn” comes from Siena Root’s upcoming disc Pioneers, the band’s first album to be released in the United States, due on November 18th, 2014 courtesy of the good folks at Cleopatra Records. The band’s riff-happy sound is complimented by its heavy use of throwback-vibe keyboards not dissimilar to Purple’s Jon Lord or Heep’s Ken Hensley. Throw in some heavy bass and explosive drumming, and you have a recipe for entertainment in any era. The album also includes a red-hot cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" guaranteed to singe the hair from your ears...
Although Siena Root has been kicking around its native Sweden since the late 1990s, they’re just now beginning to make a splash in the greater world of hard rock and heavy metal, earning the band no little praise from some of their obvious influences. In a press release for Pioneers, Uriah Heep guitarist and founder Mick Box says “it’s nice to hear a band like Siena Root playing it for real in this overly-processed world that we live in. Power to them, and I wish them all the success in the world!”
Fellow droogs, if anybody knows heavy rock ‘n’ roll music, it’s Mick Box, so you can take his endorsement of Siena Root to the bank…or just watch the video and make up your own bloody mind…
German hard rock band Lucifer’s Friend was one of the most interesting and entertaining outfits of the early 1970s. Fronted by leather-lunged British vocalist John Lawton, the music was propelled by Peter Hesslein’s imaginative guitar lines and bassist Dieter Horns’ heavier-than-uranium rhythms. The band’s self-titled 1970 debut album proved to be a defining work of hard rock and heavy metal, putting them similar commercial footing with like-minded fellow travelers Dust, Atomic Rooster, or Uriah Heep and influencing the next generation of (harder) bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
Still, Lucifer’s Friend seemed to struggle for an identity that they’d already perfected on the first go-round, and subsequent albums evolved from the progressive rock of 1973’s Where The Groupies Killed The Blues to the jazz-fusion of the following year’s I’m Just A Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer to the melodic rock of the band’s late 1970s efforts. Lawton split in ’76 to front Heep in the wake of David Byron’s departure, and Lucifer’s Friend soldiered on until breaking up in 1981. A brief 1994 reunion between Lawton and Hesslein resulted in the Sumo Grip album, a throwback to their original sound, and then the band went quiet for another 20 years.
2015 may well prove to be Lucifer’s Friend’s year, however. Lawton, Hesslein, and Horns are reuniting to play the Swedish Rock Festival in June, and are currently putting together a full tour. Sadly, original band drummer Joachim Rietenbach passed away a few years ago, so newcomer Stephan Eggart will occupy that position, with Yogi Wichman, who played on Sumo Grip, on keyboards.
If that wasn’t enough good news to satisfy long-suffering Lucifer’s Friend fans, the band will also be releasing Awakening, a compilation album featuring four new songs recorded by the new band line-up, on Cherry Red Records in March 2015. Awakening is available for pre-order exclusively on the Cherry Red website, and fans that go ahead and order the disc will also receive an exclusive signed item.
In a press release for the band reunion, singer John Lawton states, “the reformation of Lucifer's Friend has been a long time coming, but we all feel that the time is right…to get back together with the guys with whom I had worked together for so many years and recorded albums that have in many respects stood the test of time, is for me, an upcoming highlight.” Adds guitarist Peter Hesslein, “…we thought that before it really is too late, to give our fans, especially the younger ones, a chance to experience a part of the founder members of hard rock...”
Fresh off our recap of Cream’s musical legacy comes news of Jack Bruce’s death. The British blues-rock legend died from liver disease on Saturday, October 25th, 2014; Bruce was 71 years old.
Bruce is best-known for the brief 2½ years he spent as Cream’s bassist, singer, and primary songwriter circa 1966 to ‘68. Although the band’s tenure was short, they released four incredibly influential studio albums during their meteoric rise and eventual break-up. Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker fused rock music and the blues unlike any band before them, and their musical legacy and immense commercial success would chase all the members for the remainder of their individually lengthy careers.
Bruce's Early Years
Before his enlistment into Cream, Bruce had already spent almost a half-decade as a pro, first with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated (a veritable breeding ground for British blues-rock talent), and later as a member of the Graham Bond Quartet (with guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Ginger Baker alongside keyboardist Bond). Shortly after the quartet evolved into the Graham Bond Organisation with the departure of McLaughlin, Bruce’s tumultuous relationship with Baker would become downright combative, leading to Bruce’s departure from the band.
Bruce spent a short time in the mid-1960s with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, where he first met guitarist Clapton, before jumping ship to the Manfred Mann Band, where he gained his first taste of chart success with the hit single “Pretty Flamingo.” A one-off project with Clapton and singer Steve Winwood (pre-Traffic) under the band name Powerhouse resulted in a handful of tracks for a subsequent compilation album, but is notable mostly because it was an important precursor to the forming of Cream.
The Solo Years
Before Cream’s break-up in 1968 (the writing clearly on the wall), Bruce recorded an acoustic jazz album with guitarist McLaughlin and former bandmates Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman; titled Things We Like, it wouldn’t be released until 1970 as Bruce’s sophomore album. Bruce launched his solo career proper with the 1969 album Songs For A Tailor, an engaging mix of blues, rock, and jazz recorded with saxophonist Heckstall-Smith, drummer Hiseman, guitarist Chris Spedding, and other friends.
Songs For A Tailor would create the blueprint for the next four-plus decades of Bruce’s career as he would chase his restless muse across a musical landscape that explored the depths of hard rock, blues, jazz, fusion, British R&B, and rhythmic world music. Unlike many solo artists of his stature, after scoring a modest hit album (#6 on the U.K. charts, #55 U.S.), Bruce hooked up with the jazz-fusion band Lifetime with drummer Tony Williams and guitarist McLaughlin, appearing on the band’s second album.
This, too, would set a pattern for Bruce’s lengthy career – shortly after the 1971 release of his third solo album, Harmony Row, Bruce formed the Cream-influenced West, Bruce & Laing in 1972 with two former members of Mountain, guitarist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing. The trio released two studio albums and one live set that still stand up well as guitar-heavy slabs of 1970s-era arena-rock, but by 1974 Bruce was on his own again, releasing his fourth solo album, Out Of The Storm, and subsequently lending his talents to recordings by Frank Zappa and Lou Reed.
Power Trios Redux
By the end of the 1970s, however, Bruce’s drug addiction had spiraled out of control, leaving him almost broke. Session work with artists like Gary Moore and Yes’s John Anderson firmed up his finances and lead to the formation of Jack Bruce & Friends with drummer Billy Cobham (who had been introduced to Bruce by old friend McLaughlin), former Humble Pie guitarist Clem Clempson, and keyboardist David Sancious (E Street Band) which released 1980's I've Always Wanted To Do That.
Bruce continued to make music throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, first as part of a trio with guitarist Robin Trower that would release two well-received albums (the first of which, B.L.T., went Top 40 in the U.S.), and as a solo artist, releasing a handful of recordings under his own a name. Bruce collaborated and performed with a number of musicians during the ensuing decades, including former Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, blues-rock guitar legend Rory Gallagher, and world music producer Kip Hanrahan. Yet another power trio by the name of BBM featured guitarist Moore, Bruce, and Baker, who managed to record a single 1993 album before old tensions between the former Cream bandmates flared up again.
Jack Bruce In The New Millennium
Bruce continued pursuing his musical curiosity into the new millennium, forming a band with Funkadelic’s keyboard wizard Bernie Worrell and former Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid which recorded the 2001 album Shadows In The Air. Bruce toured as part of Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band with guitarist Peter Frampton, and in 2005 he joined his former Cream mates for a series of sold-out reunion shows. Bruce went back into the studio with Trower in 2008 for the well-received Seven Moons album and a subsequent tour, and later that year he became part of the Lifetime Tribute Band with Reid, keyboardist John Medeski, and drummer Cindy Blackman to play jazz-fusion in the Tony Williams’ vein. The same musicians would re-form as Spectrum Road, named for a Lifetime song, to tour and record a 2011 album.
In 2014, Bruce released the critically-acclaimed Silver Rails, his first solo album in a decade, recorded with old friends like Manzanera and Trower. Bruce had suffered from ill health for years, however, the legendary bassist first diagnosed with liver cancer in 2003 and receiving a transplant that was initially rejected by his body. Although he worked consistently since that point, the disease reoccurred and finally took the life of one of the most influential musicians in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
Bruce’s impact on bass players is immeasurable, and as an innovative and accomplished artist in his own right, Bruce leaves behind an enormous musical legacy that stands proud alongside the groundbreaking work he did with Cream early in his half-century career.
(Jack Bruce photo at top of post courtesy Christian Sahm, 2006)
At this point in his lengthy career, roots ‘n’ blues legend Elvin Bishop is unlikely to bring about any sort of musical revolution. The guitarist has followed a pretty simple formula on albums like Red Dog Speaks and The Blues Rolls On, and over most of the past 20 or so years, really – a bit of good-natured humor, a little heartfelt emotion, a few inspired cover songs, and plenty of greasy git licks. It’s not a particularly innovative formula, but Bishop’s not out to set the woods on fire, he’s just trying to have a good time and play some entertaining music.
And entertaining it is…Bishop’s latest, Can’t Even Do Wrong Right, is the perfect showcase for the guitarist’s bawdy humor and his signature musical blend of twang ‘n’ bang. Marking his return to the Alligator Records label after an absence of better than a decade, Bishop teams up with some old pals – singer Mickey Thomas (he of “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” fame) and harp player Charlie Musselwhite – to crank out a set of songs that offer the perfect mix of talent, blues tradition, and humor.
The title track is a jocular tale of a sad sack named “Maurice” who always finds himself in hot water, the humorous lyrics matched by Bishop’s swinging vocals and engaging fretwork. A cover of the legendary Little Walter’s “Blues With A Feeling” substitutes Bishop’s raging guitarplay for Walter’s dancing harp, while Musselwhite brings his best game for “Old School,” a statement of defiance by a couple of aging bluesmen that offers up plenty of red-hot instrumentation and as funky a groove as you’ll ever hear.
Mickey Thomas takes the microphone for the original “Let Your Woman Have Her Way,” an effective ballad with torch vocals and Bishop’s subtle, elegant fretwork. Fat Domino’s “Bo Weevil” is a New Orleans-styled romp with crackling accordion and undeniable rhythm. Bishop is an underrated instrumentalist, his six-string skills often overshadowed by his playful charisma. As shown by Can’t Even Do Wrong Right, though, while the guitarist may joke around a bit, deep in the grooves where it counts, he’s all business…and Bishop seldom fails to bring energy and passion to his performances.
Here’s a fine present that any classic rock fan would salivate over finding underneath their tree come Christmas morning. On November 24, 2014 Universal Music will release Cream: 1966-1972, a seven-disc vinyl box set that includes all six of the legendary British blues-rock band’s four studio and two live albums pressed onto 180-gram heavyweight audiophile vinyl, with exact reproductions of each album’s original artwork, all of it gloriously packaged in a rigid slipcase box.
Formed in 1966 by guitarist Eric Clapton (fresh off stints with the Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers), bassist Jack Bruce (another Bluesbreakers alumni), and drummer Ginger Baker (via the Graham Bond Organization), Cream was one of the first “supergroups” on the British blues-rock scene. The erstwhile power trio revolutionized rock music by combining elements of blues, hard rock, and psychedelic rock, as well as elements of jazz in the creation of a unique and exciting new sound that, nearly fifty years later, still thrills listeners with its bold instrumentation and imaginative lyrics, frequently penned by poet Pete Brown.
Fresh Cream
Cream had a monster hit single right out of the box with the Jack Bruce/Pete Brown song “I Feel Free,” following it up with their 1967 debut album Fresh Cream a few months later. The album featured a number of original songs, covers of vintage blues gems like Skip James’ “I’m So Glad,” Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ & Tumblin’,” and Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful,” which drove the album to number six on the U.K. charts and into the U.S. Top 40.
By the end of the year, Cream would release the band’s landmark Disraeli Gears album, its striking psychedelic Martin Sharp cover art masking a phenomenal set of songs, the album racing up to number four on the U.S. album chart on the strength of the hit single “Sunshine of Your Love.” The album offered up other classic rock tunes in “Strange Brew” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” that further re-worked the blues idiom into a fresh, remarkable new sound.
Wheels of Fire
If Disraeli Gears was Cream’s creative apex, the band’s 1968 album Wheels of Fire would be their commercial peak. A whopping two-album set (a rarity at the time), Wheels of Fire sat at number one on the U.S. album chart for a month and hit number three on the U.K. chart, spawning hit singles in “White Room” (#6) and a live cover of Delta blues legend Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” (#28), which has since become Clapton’s signature song. One disc of Wheels of Fire was comprised of new studio recordings (including covers of Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign” and the Mississippi Sheiks’ “Sittin’ On Top Of The World”) while the other disc offered four extended live tracks from the Fillmore West in San Francisco. The LP moved a lot of flapjacks, too, certified Gold almost immediately upon its release.
Cream circa 1967
By the time of the release of Wheels of Fire, tensions in the band (particularly between Bruce and Baker), as well as the exhausting touring done by the band over the previous two years, led to an inevitable break up. The band performed a farewell tour in late 1968, concluding at the Royal Albert Hall in London in November before calling it quits. Not willing to give up a cash cow, however, the label coaxed the band back into the studio to record a few tracks, which resulted in Cream’s final studio album, Goodbye, released in March 1969. A mix of live and studio tracks, Goodbye shot up to number one in the U.K. and number two on the U.S. chart on the back of the hit single “Badge,” the song co-written by Clapton and George Harrison, who played rhythm guitar on the session under the name L’Angelo Misterioso.
Cream’s Legacy
Two posthumous Cream albums were released after the band’s break up, the first in 1970 (Live Cream), which included performances from the Fillmore West and Winterland in San Francisco circa 1968, along with one lone studio recording (“Lawdy Mama”). The second, Live Cream Volume 2, was released in 1972 and included more Winterland ’68 performances along with three 1968 performances from the Oakland Coliseum. Both live albums would chart in the Top 30 on both the U.S. and the U.K. charts. Since then, a steady stream of anthologies and compilation albums would be released to capitalize on the band’s legacy, including a ten-track Best of Cream in 1969 (with its vegetable cover art - I totally had this LP!) and the double-album set Heavy Cream in 1973, as well as a 2003 collection of the band’s BBC radio performances.
Eric Clapton, of course, has gone on to a lengthy and storied solo career, as well as recording landmark albums with supergroups Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos. Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker have found less commercial success during the years, but are both still making fine music (Bruce’s critically-acclaimed 2014 album, Silver Rails, is brilliant). In 2006, Cream received a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award, and the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. The band’s 2005 reunion shows in London and New York City sold out in less than an hour, attracting fans from across the globe.
Cream: 1966-1972 brings the band’s immense musical legacy full-circle, once again capturing on vinyl the magic and the band chemistry that mesmerized listeners in the 1960s for a new audience to discover.
Ah, Supertramp…after an absence of probably 30 years, the British art-rock jokers have inched their way back onto my stereo with their lighthearted blend of melodic pop, overblown pomp, and progressive rock instrumentation. I’m not sure why they were AWOL all those years; they probably fell out of favor when the Reverend went through his death metal phase, or maybe it was the siren call of the punk-rock ‘90s, but Supertramp went begging until they were just recently rediscovered.
Unlike 1970s-era proggers like Yes or ELP, Supertramp was designed from the ground up to be a commercial vehicle, and their progressive/art-rock proclivities were more a feature of the talents of band members like singer, songwriter, and pianist Rick Davies; singer and guitarist Roger Hodgson; and multi-instrumentalist and horn player John Helliwell than a deliberate attempt at virtuosity. After a couple of solid early 1970s album releases and a like number of roster changes, Supertramp grabbed the ever elusive brass ring with the 1974 release of their third album, Crime of the Century.
By the time of Crime of the Century, Davies and Hodgson had developed a real chemistry as a songwriting team, and the assembled musicians backing the frontmen were talented contributors to the band’s unique sound. The album was the band’s first to chart Top 40 in the U.S. while peaking at number four in the UK, mostly on the strength of the singles “Bloody Well Right” and “Dreamer,” both of which would become favored FM radio tracks. On December 9th, 2014 Universal Music will release a 40th anniversary version of Crime of the Century as a deluxe two-disc set.
This anniversary edition of Crime of the Century will include the classic original album, re-mastered by Ray Staff at Air Studios, on the first disc and a previously unreleased 1975 concert from the Hammersmith Odeon in London on disc two. The live set was mixed from the original tapes by engineer Ken Scott, who recorded them in 1975, and feature the performance of Crime of the Century in its entirety as well as tracks from the band’s as-yet-unreleased fourth album, Crisis? What Crisis?
The reissue also includes a 24 page booklet with rare photos and a new essay penned by Mojo magazine Editor-In-Chief Phil Alexander which includes new interviews with band members Hodgson, Helliwell, bassist Dougie Thomson, drummer Bob Siebenberg, and the album’s producer, Ken Scott. Crime of the Century will also be reissued in digital format and as a three-album vinyl LP set.
After Crime of the Century, Supertramp would take a few more years to cement its arena-rock superstar status. The band’s 1975 album, Crisis? What Crisis?, while receiving critical acclaim in some quarters (Rolling Stone hated it, tho’), backslid on the charts when compared to its predecessor, although it did help promote the band in far-flung markets like Norway and New Zealand. Supertramp’s fifth album, Even in the Quietest Moments..., made up the lost ground, hitting Top 20 in both the U.S. and U.K.
It was the band’s Breakfast In America album, released in early 1979, that would propel them to the commercial heights. Scoring three Top 20 singles, including “The Logical Song” and “Take The Long Way Home,” Breakfast In America would earn Supertramp a pair of Grammy® Awards on its way to selling better than four million copies. The band would ride this wave until it crashed ashore almost a decade later, but for Supertramp, their claim to fame begun with Crime of the Century.
