Collectors’ Guide to Rare British Birds

RELEASE
1999
LABEL
Decca
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Psychedelic, Mod, British Invasion, British Psychedelia, Freakbeat

Album Review

This is an astonishingly lively and exciting collection, coming from a band that scarcely sold any records in their own time and are known today for their name and their lineup, but not their music. The stuff here is as crunchy and grinding as the early Who material, and if the band's own songwriting isn't as distinctive, the style of the performing is more appealing. The songs range from some hot Ron Wood originals ("You're on My Mind," "Next in Line," "That's All I Need") to covers of obscure Motown songs and Pete Townshend material. Think of the Kinks from "Long Tall Sally," the Yardbirds from "A Certain Girl," or the Who from "The Good's Gone" and that's the dominant sound here -- curiously, their cover of Townshend's "Run Run Run" starts out as though it's going to turn into "My Generation." Ali MacKenzie sounded like a punkier Roger Daltrey, and Ron Wood's playing was a delightful compendium of rhythm fills and angular blues licks that must've been devastating on-stage. There's also an unlisted bonus track on the CD -- at the risk of spoiling the surprise, it's their number from the 1966 horror film The Deadly Bees, which seems not to have survived as a formal, free-standing studio master.
Bruce Eder, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. You're on my Mind
  2. You Don't Love Me
  3. Leaving Here
  4. Next in Line
  5. No Good Without You
  6. How Can It Be?
  7. You're on my Mind (Demo)
  8. You Don't Love Me (Demo)
  9. Say Those Magic Words
  10. Daddy Daddy
  11. Run Run Run
  12. Good Times
  13. Say Those Magic Words [Alternate Version]
  14. Daddy Daddy [Alternate Version]
  15. La Poupee Qui Fait Non
  16. Run Run Run [Alternate Version]
  17. Daddy Daddy [Instrumental]
  18. Granny Rides Agian
  19. That's All I Need