DUNCAN BROWNE Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

Few hard facts are available about this interesting singer-songwriter, whose debut album, August 1968's Give Me Take You, is one of the rarest of the period. This gratifyingly detailed interview appeared in the first issue of the surpassingly obscure and short-lived British pop journal Strange Days in September 1970, and is reproduced here for the first time. Enjoy!

FLASHBACK ISSUE #3

I'm delighted to announce that Flashback #3 will be available as of May 21st, and can be bought here. 

Mighty Baby are on the cover, and the accompanying feature includes full interviews with all the members, as well as several other figures close to the band. Also included are a jukebox from Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips, a study by Richie Unterberger of the rock memoir industry, Patrick Lundborg on the mono v. stereo question, producer / Harvest boss Malcolm Jones on Syd Barrett and the making of The Madcap Laughs, 50 Overlooked Singer-Songwriter LPs, a history of the rare Top Pops newspaper, and in-depth features on the Common People, Tripsichord Music Box and more, as well as music / book reviews and plenty of rare / unseen images and vintage music paper reprints. Enjoy! 

FLASHBACK #2 in Shindig

Thanks to Andy Morten for this warm review in the new issue of Shindig.

MARY-ANNE: Me again

Issued in 1970, the haunting Me by Mary-Anne is one of the rarest and best British folk albums of its time. I have only ever seen two copies, and rather to my surprise have just realised that they're different. What I assume is the first has the matrix numbers PR JOY S 162 A and PR JOY S 162 B, and textured labels with four rings (below right). The second has the matrix numbers PR JOY S 162 A 2 and PR JOY S 162 B 2, and smooth labels with only one ring (below left). In all other respects (cover included) they are indistinguishable. 

Pressing 1 has a subtly different mix, and includes completely different versions of two songs, The Gentleman Soldier and Candyman. Ironically, these are the only weak tracks on the album, their jaunty tone jarring with the prevailing air of restrained melancholy. The former runs 2:39 on Pressing 1 and 3:15 on Pressing 2, while the latter runs 1:45 on Pressing 1 and 3:08 on Pressing 2. In both cases, I consider the Pressing 1 takes to be superior. Not only are they shorter, but they're less theatrical. The Pressing 1 version of The Gentleman Soldier is pure guitar and voice, while Pressing 2 has a military drum, heavily mannered vocals and some obviously flubbed guitar. The Pressing 1 version of Candyman has flute and simple guitar backing, while Pressing 2 has ragtime guitar, bumptious kazoo and extra words (including unconvincing drug references). I can only assume that the longer versions appeared on Pressing 2 by accident - but of course we'll never know if that's the case, or how / why.

When I licensed the album for reissue on Sunbeam in 2006, President Records provided the master tape. Oddly, the 'wrong' versions of both The Gentleman Soldier and Candyman were on it, meaning that we had to drop in what I assumed to be the 'correct' versions from a vinyl copy. I included the 'wrong' versions as bonus tracks on the CD, little suspecting that they had in fact also been issued at the time. The only evidence for the album's existence that President possessed was the tape - they had no photographs, extra material or original LPs, and the label's boss could cast no light on the variant versions being on the tape. 

If you're interested in Mary-Anne, I've already posted about her here. If you haven't come across her, here's the loveliest version of this lovely song I've yet heard.

Flashback in Classic Rock magazine

The current issue of Classic Rock magazine contains this warm review of Flashback #2.

FLASHBACK in Ptolemaic Terrascope

A detailed interview with me all about Flashback has just been posted at the Ptolemaic Terrascope site - you can read it here.

FLASHBACK #2 in Ugly Things

Thanks to Mike Stax for these kind words in the new issue of Ugly Things. Issue #1 is now sold out (at source, anyway), but #2 can still be bought at flashbackmag.com and elsewhere.