Reissue CDs Weekly: Michael Hurley, James Govan, Dan Penn, 14 Iced Bears

Michael Hurley: Armchair Boogie / Hi Fi Snock Uptown

With songs about werewolves, penguins, the English upper classes, trains, the police and more werewolves, these albums from surrealist folk maverick Michael Hurley are charming and occasionally disconcerting. His ramshackle delivery seems a little offhand but it brings an intimacy that can’t fail to worm its way in. Armchair Boogie (credited to Michael Hurley & Pals) was originally issued in 1971; Hi Fi Snock Uptown in 1972. Both originally came out Raccoon, the label run The Youngbloods.

Armchair Boogie was the belated follow-up to Hurley’s debut album, which had been issued in 1964 by Folkways (listen to Armchair Boogie’s “Werewolf” on the next page). The Sixties folk-rock boom passed him by, as did the hippy era – he would have fit snugly on shelves alongside The Holy Modal Rounders, second album Mad River and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Luckily, he had a champion in The Youngbloods' Jesse Colin Young. His approach pitches him as a folk-born Robert Crumb, but without the jazz and misanthropy. Hurley coated his albums in his own cartoons about his dogs Boone and Jocko, reproduced with care on these well-packaged reissues, the first to be taken from the master tapes.

More recently, he's cropped up on Gnomonsong, the label run by Devendra Banhart and Vetiver’s Andy Cabic. Mainstream adoption is unlikely at this late stage, but the eccentric Armchair Boogie and Hi Fi Snock Uptown are both artefacts to treasure.

James Govan: Wanted – The Fame Recordings

James Govan isn’t a name that troubles discographers. When he was trying to make it, the Mississippi-born, Memphis-raised soulman made two singles: one is 1969, another in 1971. An Eighties comeback resulted in an album and another single, and for five years in the Nineties he was mainstay of Italy’s Porretta Soul Festival. That Govan didn’t vanish after those two obscure singles suggests he might have been something special. Wanted – The Fame Recordings collects the four sides from the early 45s and teams them with 12 other tracks heard for the first time – making this the album he might have released in 1971. The studio and label which first picked up on Govan was FAME, where studio manager Mickey Buckins was impressed with the singer. “When I heard James sings,” says Buckins in the liner notes. “I couldn’t believe it, he was the closest thing to Otis Redding.” Govan’s voice is smoother than Redding's, and less forceful, but it is expressive, with a tone encompassing sadness and urgency. His debut single, “Wanted: Lover (No Experience Necessary)” is benchmark Southern soul. The cover of “That’s All Right, Mama”, which closes this set, might be inessential, but otherwise this is a fascinating and frequently great addition to the soul almanac.

Various Artists: A Road Leading Home – Songs by Dan Penn

While Govan was failing to make an impact with the recordings he made there, another associate of FAME studios had become a one-man musical tidal wave. Dan Penn was composing, producing and recording for the studio. His most celebrated songs were written with Spooner Oldham, but A Road Leading Home collects compositions (mostly from 1965 to 1971), written on his own or with collaborators other than Oldham. A fair amount of the original releases of what’s heard here originally came out on Atlantic, but other imprints include Chess, RCA Victor and Bell. Penn was scattershot, but judging by A Road Leading Home quantity didn’t necessarily lead to a reduction in quality. The aching “Dark End of the Street” is a classic in the hands of James Carr, but the version here by Roy Hamilton is just as affecting. Other highlights include Bobby Patterson’s sparse “Long Ago”, The Blues Busters’ insistent “I Can’t Stop” and The Hacienda Brothers' 2006 country-soul crossover “What’s Wrong With Right”. If in need of a lift, head straight for the peppy “Break up the Party” by Jerry Lee’s little sister Linda Gail Lewis.

14 Iced Bears: Hold on Inside – Complete Recordings 1991-1986

This 2CD set of everything recorded by Brighton’s 14 Iced Bears reveals that appearances were deceiving. Both the cutesy name and that one of their singles was on indie label Sarah suggested they were fey, shambling types. The opening track, “Hold On”, instantly puts such notions to bed. Sonic Flower Groove Primal Scream, second album Ride, “Big City” Spaceman 3, first album Stone Roses, the odd Balearic beat – all are in there. This psychedelic smorgasbord came a bit late; most of the ingredients were au courant in 1989 rather than 1991, when the track and its attendant album were released, but time is a healer. Divorced from its contemporary context much of Hold on Inside sounds like lost nuggets, despite the very heavy Primal Scream shadow cast over the earliest material. 14 Iced Bears need an instant reappraisal.

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Listen to “Werewolf” from Michael Hurley’s Armchair Boogie