Two Miles High Music

Review by Richie Unterberger.... The final installment of the Anthology series has two discs of previously unreleased material from the White Album era through the group's demise in early 1970. In terms of sheer listenability, this may be the strongest volume of the three, if only because it focuses almost solely upon studio recordings rather than mixing live concerts/broadcasts and outtakes. Also, by this time the Beatles had perfected their approach to recording, meaning that even the early/alternate versions of many of their cuts were often of outstanding quality. There's some prime stuff here: "unplugged" White Album demos from mid-1968, radically different versions of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Helter Skelter," a stringless "The Long and Winding Road," three beautifully sung and played Harrison solo demos from early 1969, and several songs the Beatles never released, like "All Things Must Pass," "Not Guilty," "Teddy Boy," "Come and Get It," and "Junk." Not everything here is so great that the casual consumer will be fascinated, of course. As on previous Anthology sets, some of these alternates are only very slightly different from the official versions; the oldies covers from the Let It Be era are off-the-cuff jams that aren't up to the group's usual level of brilliance. It's still a fascinating collection, both for the insight it affords you into the group's creative process at the end of their career, and for the considerable excellence of the music itself.

Flipper Live At CBGB's 1983 includes 3 tracks that have never seen the light of day elsewhere: ‘If It Don't Fit Don't Force It’; ‘If I Can't Be Drunk’; ‘Hopelessly in Love’ and comes with a deluxe booklet and sleeve notes designed and written by Steve DePace.

Review by Richie Unterberger.... As expected, the second installment of the Anthology series reflects the Beatles' increasing use of the studio-as-laboratory during their "middle years." Some live material from 1965 to 1966 appears on the first disc, and the second "reunion" single ("Real Love") leads off the set. But the emphasis is upon alternate takes from early 1965 to early 1968, during which time the group rapidly evolved from post-Merseybeat through folk-rock to psychedelia. As with the first volume, this is nearly always interesting but perhaps thinner on revelations than some might expect. The Help!-era outtakes "If You've Got Troubles" and "That Means a Lot" are on the light side but very fun, especially the latter, which Paul and the group perform much better than P.J. Proby (who covered the song shortly afterward). Some of the alternate takes are extremely different and excellent performances on their own merits: the funkier version of "I'm Looking Through You" and the less mellow arrangement of "Norwegian Wood," a wall-of-drugs reverb for "Tomorrow Never Knows," a very Byrds-like approach to "And Your Bird Can Sing" (with giggle-laden vocals), and an acoustic demo of "Fool on the Hill." The earlier, much more acoustic version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" is the most notable gem. On the other hand, much of the material differs from the official cuts in fairly minute gradations and will be of greater interest to scholars than general listeners (although discoveries like a different solo on "Penny Lane" are fascinating). The seven live tracks on disc one, from the waning days of Beatlemania, are better than many would have assumed, showing the group still capable of generating heat on-stage.

Produced by Annette Humpe.

Marvin (Marvin Etzioni): Weapons of the Spirit! 1994 Restless Release! Marvin Etzioni started as the bass player & founding member of country punk group Lone Justice. In the 1990's he made 3 solo CD's with "Weapons of the Spirit" being his last. TRACKS: 1. This Is a Record; 2. Weapons of the Spirit; 3. Daughter of the Rainbow - (with Victoria Williams); 4. Temple and Shrine - (with Maria McKee); 5. Bending and Craving; 6. Man on the Tightrope (Leap of Faith); 7. That's Powerful Stuff; 8. 2rl; 9. Kingdom Within; 10. Where I Am Is Where I Wanna Be (The Marvin Song); 11. Hope; 12. Children of Eden; & 13. End of the Century Waltz.

Jean Cocteau, narrator; Peter Ustinov, Devil, Igor Markovitch- Music L'Histoire Du Soldat, Stravinsky. LP Cover art Jean Cocteau, 1963 STEREO PH900 046