(2021) Rare Bird – Beautiful Scarlet: The Recordings 1969-1975


Review:
Esoteric Recordings are released Beautiful Scarlet: The Recordings 1969-1975, a newly re-mastered 6 CD boxed set featuring all of the albums and singles released by legendary band Rare Bird on both the Charisma and Polydor labels between 1969 and 1975. Formed in 1969 with a line up featuring Graham Field (organ), Dave Kaffinetti (keyboards), Steve Gould (vocals, bass) and Mark Ashton (drums), Rare Bird had the distinction of being the first act to be released on Tony Stratton Smith’s gloriously eclectic label Charisma records (also the home of Genesis, The Nice and Van Der Graaf Generator to name but a few) and for their excellent self-titled debut album released in late 1969 and their 1970 international hit single ‘Sympathy’. Despite selling a million copies worldwide, neither their debut album or the excellent follow up As Your Mind Flies By (issued in 1970) enjoyed the sales of their debut single. This lack of commercial success saw the departure of Graham Field and Mark Ashton, leaving Gould and Kaffinetti to form a new line-up in 1971 adding Andy “Ced” Curtis (lead guitar), Fred Kelly (drums) and Paul Karas (bass, vocals) to the band, with Steve Gould undertaking the role of second guitarist in addition to that of vocalist. Signing to Polydor Records in late 1971, Rare Bird recorded the excellent album Epic Forest the following year. The album was lavishly packaged with early copies featuring a poster and a bonus 7-inch EP with three additional tracks. In 1973 the band changed line-ups once more with departure of Paul Karas. He was replaced by Nic Potter (previously with Van Der Graaf Generator) and the band recorded the fine album Somebody’s Watching the same year. The album featured guest John Wetton on bass for the track “Dollars”. Despite the excellence of the band’s work, commercial success still eluded them. In 1974 Andy Rae replaced Nic Potter on bass and Rare Bird recorded their final album, Born Again. The release of the album led to touring activity, including a memorable spot opening for label mates Barclay James Harvest at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in June 1974. However, the following year Rare Bird disbanded. This new anthology features newly re-mastered versions of all of Rare Bird’s albums and singles, with Epic Forest being re-mastered from recently discovered first generation master tapes for the first time. The set also features an additional previously unreleased CD of the band’s entire live set recorded by Polydor Records at the Theatre Royal, London in June 1974.





Track Listing:

CD1 - Rare Bird (1970)
01 - Iceberg
02 - Times
03 - You Went Away
04 - Melanie
05 - Beautiful Scarlet
06 - Sympathy
07 - Nature's Fruit
08 - Bird on a Wing
09 - God of War
10 - Devil's High Concern (bonus)
11 - Sympathy (mono single version) (bonus)

CD2 - As You Mind Flies By (1970)
01 - What You Want To Know
02 - Down On The Floor
03 - Hammerhead
04 - I'm Thinking
05 - Flight (I. As Your Mind Flies By  II. Vacuum  III. New York  IV. Central Park)
06 - What You Want To Know (Mono Single Version) (Bonus)
07 - Hammerhead (Mono Single Version) (Bonus)
08 - Red Man (1971 Version) (Bonus)

CD3 - Epic Forest (1972)
01 - Baby Listen
02 - Hey Man
03 - House in the City
04 - Epic Forest
05 - Turning the Lights Out
06 - Her Darkest Hour
07 - Fears of the Night
08 - Turn it All Around
09 - Title No. 1 Again (Birdman)
10 - Roadside Welcome
11 - Four Grey Walls
12 - You're Lost

CD4 - Somebody's Watching (1973)
01 - Somebody's Watching
02 - Third Time Around
03 - Turn Your Head
04 - More and More
05 - Hard Time
06 - Who is the Hero
07 - High in the Morning
08 - Dollars
09 - A Few Dollars More
10 - Virginia (bonus)
11 - Lonely Street (bonus)

CD5 - Born Again (1974)
01 - Body and Soul
02 - Live for Each Other
03 - Diamonds
04 - Reaching You
05 - All That I Need
06 - Redman
07 - Peace of Mind
08 - Harlem
09 - Lonely Street
10 - Last Tango in Beulah
11 - Don't Be Afraid (bonus)
12 - Passin' Through (bonus)

CD6 - Live at the Theatre Royal (1974)
01 - Somebody's Watching (live)
02 - Third Time Around (live)
03 - Hard Time (live)
04 - All That I Need (live)
05 - Lonely Street (live)
06 - Live for Each Other (live)
07 - Last Tango in Beulah (live)
08 - Dollars (live)

Media Report:
Genre: rock
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits