Diggin' For Gold: Joe Meek's Tea Chest Tapes

ビート / R&Bブームの絶頂期にプレストンで結成された、ティーンエイジャーDAVID SMITH率いるDAVID JOHN & THE MOOD。60年代半ばに活躍したブリティッシュR&Bバンド初のアンソロジーがCDリリース。

1964年、65年にリリースされた3枚の7インチ・シングルが全てだと思われていましたが、近年発掘されたJOE MEEKのTEA CHEST TAPESより数々の別ヴァージョン、未発表音源が発掘されました。BOBBY FREEMANのカルト・クラシック・ブルース・バラード"THAT LITTLE OLD HEARTBREAKER ME"をはじめ、全22曲を収録しています。ジョー・ミーク・ファンは勿論、60'Sガレージ・フリーク必携の逸品でしょう!

Diggin for Gold: Joe Meeks Tea Chest Tapes is one of the first volumes of Cherry Reds series drawn from thousands of hours of recordings the inimitable producer left behind -- and which languished for over 50 years. A collection of Meeks work with David John & the Mood isnt an obvious starting point: The British R&B outfit worked with him a handful of times before calling it a day in 1966. Nevertheless, its an enticing set that does the band justice. Highly sought after by British R&B/freakbeat aficionados, the three singles David John & the Mood managed to release cultivated a mystique so strong, some believed the group was a David Bowie project. The real story of David John & the Mood may be even wilder than the rumors -- John befriended Paul McCartney after his letter-writing campaign to the BBC led to the Beatles first nationwide media attention in the U.K., and Mick Jagger played maracas on their debut single, "Pretty Thing" -- but its not quite as wild as their music. Though it was hard for them to keep their career going, Diggin for Gold makes it easy to hear why David John & the Mood became cult favorites. Their version of British R&B was harder-edged than many of their contemporaries, as on "Bring It to Jerome," a March 1965 Bo Diddley cover. Marking their first time recording with the producer, its true to the bands raw, yowling stomp and Meeks unconventional recording techniques; a chain liberated from a toilet and dropped onto a biscuit tin adds an extra percussive punch. The chugging B-side, "I Love to See You Strut," is an original credited to W.C. Charnley (Charnley was the street on which their managers office was located; W.C. was for "water closet"). Meek pushed the band further out of their comfort zone with their final release, July 1965s "Diggin for Gold." Its snaking, Peter Gunn-like bassline and rags-to-riches lyrics make it a grooving outlier in David John & the Moods small discography. That goes double for the previously unreleased cover of Bobby Freemans "That Little Old Heartbreaker Me," which reveals a poignancy and restraint that the band never had the chance to develop. Though its buried on Diggin for Golds track list, May 1964s Shel Talmy-produced "Pretty Thing"/"To Catch That Man" makes this a complete document of their output -- and reaffirms that their chemistry with Meek brought out something special in their music. The abundance of alternate versions, instrumentals, and vinyl dubs that round out the collection only differ slightly from the released versions, and overall Meeks productions arent as outlandish as his work with the Syndicats or the Honeycombs. Better appreciated as the definitive David John & the Mood collection than as a set of Meek rarities, Diggin for Gold: Joe Meeks Tea Chest Tapes is so comprehensive that it bodes well for the volumes of the series dedicated to the producers regular coterie of artists. ~ Heather Phares