Great Obscure U.K. 60's R&B Sides: The Alan Bown Set Sound of '66

THE ALAN BOWN SET-Baby Don't Push Me/Everything's Gonna Be Alright U.K. Pye 7N.17084 1966

We talked about the 3rd Alan Bown Set 45 in an earlier post (where you can gather more info on the band). This was their second, released in April 1966.

"Baby Don't Push Me" has always been one of my fave A.B.S. numbers.  It's mid paced accentuated by some great horn section bits and an amazing busy bass line and of course raw vocals by Jess Roden.

"Everything's Gonna Be Alright", though not a patch on the Willie Mitchell version, still works again in no small part due to the stellar horn section but at the same time is sort of...well..pointless because it's pretty much just a tepid note for note cover that's sped up just a little bit?!

Both sides are on the Castle CD of the band's entire Pye catalog titled "Emergency 999" . "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" appeared on Sequel/Castles "Doin' The Mod Volume Two: Jump And Dance" and Past and Presents "New Directions Volume 2".

Hear "Baby Don't Push Me":

https://youtu.be/kejPMPf1fW0

Hear "Everything's Gonna Be Alright":

https://youtu.be/VjqZpn8Bs2Q?list=PLxzadJ843k-VxtUSC1zbHZ_jAX8kee9kI

Great Obscure U.K. 60's R&B Sides: The Alan Bown Set

THE ALAN BOWN SET-Headline News/Mr. Pleasure U.K. Pye 7N.17148 1967

The Swinging Summer of '66 (July to be exact) saw The Alan Bown Set, a 7 piece London lot of r&b musos release their third imprint on Pye records. The Alan Bown Set were known as one of those many acts like The Action and The Graham Bond Organization who were a "band's band" with a heavy club reputation and absolutely zero chart presence despite a continuous string of singles.  The band at the time of this release were: Jess Roden (lead vocals),  Alan Bown (trumpet), Jeff Bannister (keyboards), John Heliwell (saxophone and later in Supertramp!), Pete Burgess (bass) and Vic Sweeny (drums).

Edwin Starr's "Headline News" ( U.S. release April 1966 on Ric-Tic RT-114) was their latest stab.  Despite being a cover, "Headline News" works thanks in no small part to Jess Roden's powerful voice and the solid as gold brass section sticking pretty much to the arrangement of the original.

"Mr. Pleasure"sees keyboard player Jeff Bannister taking the lead vocals.  It's a soulful affair punctuated by the band's horns and reminds me of one of the poppier soul tunes that The Foundations would be doing for the label a few months later.

Both sides were compiled on the Castle Alan Bown Pye anthology "Emergency 999" and "Headline News" was also featured on the final volume of their "Doin' The Mod" CD compilation series "That Driving Beat Volume 5".

Hear "Headline News":

https://youtu.be/ileR25MKhp8

Hear "Mr. Pleasure":

https://youtu.be/xooSYod_dEA

The Alan Bown Set's Last Stab at R&B

THE ALAN BOWN SET-Gonna Fix You Good/I Really Really Care Australia Astor AP-1360 1967

This was the fifth and final single by London r&b connoisseurs The Alan Bown Set (led by ex-John Barry Seven trumpeter Alan Bown) before they took the path that Zoot Money and so many other r&b peers did and went psychedelic.

"Gonna Fix You Good" is a cover of a track by Little Anthony & the Imperials.  I'll have to say I've always given kudos to this band for their soul cover selections as no one else to my knowledge was doing unlike say "My Girl" where there were probably 12 versions of it out there.  Believe it or not I think they do the number justice, bumping the pace up a notch and also no doubt because I think the band's lead singer Jess Roden has a voice that's far more powerful than Little Anthony's fey warbling.  Of course the musical backing is impeccable too, though the backing vocals are a bit much.  The flipside, "I Really, Really Care" is my fave track by the band. It's lead by some very raw (in a good way) vocals by Roden, solid brass backing and an over the top distorted guitar.  I played the hell out of it back in my DJ years at Hub City Soul and elsewhere and it usually went down fairly well on the floor.

Both sides appeared on the Sequel Alan Bown Set "Emergency 999" CD compilation (now out of print) and "I Really Really Care" appeared on Castle's "Doin' The Mod 4 : Ready, Steady, Stop!".

Hear "I'm Gonna Fix You Good":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tPVx4ShOI

Hear "I Really, Really Care":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTN8EdSOZ00