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"GIT IT"

REVIEW

by Derek Henderson

COLLECTABLES' 2-fer RE-ISSUES OF GENE VINCENT
and his BLUE CAPS - FIRST SIX CAPITOL ALBUMS:

Bluejean Bop! / Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps - COL-CD-2712
Gene Vincent Rocks! And The Blue Caps Roll / A Gene Vincent Record Date - COL-CD-2714
Sounds Like Gene Vincent / Crazy Times - COL-CD- 2720

Many Gene Vincent fans will welcome these first widely available and legitimate CD re-issues of his first six Capitol long players, especially those who did not, or were not able to, acquire the UK Box Set issued in 1990 (now sadly deleted), as they feature a number of tracks that have not been re-issued on any of the scores of compilation CDs that have emerged over the past decade. The first of the three CDs is slightly marred by the use yet again of a master tape of "I Flipped" containing a glitch at 1m52s. The second CD is fine and enhanced by the bonus tracks "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and "Race With The Devil". The third CD is, however, a major disappointment and a missed opportunity. I was disappointed when the Box Set versions of "I Might Have Known" and "You Are The One For Me" (and "Lonesome Boy" not involved here) came minus the effective and sympathetic backing vocal overdubs by The Blue Caps. This mistake is compounded here and detracts from the value of this CD. But worse is to come.

My major interest in this re-issue, apart from the aforementioned two tracks, was the "Crazy Times" re-issue. Would it contain the rare stereo versions largely unused on the Box Set, their first CD issue? The answer is no, except that amid the mono tracks, the alternate stereo version of "Darlene" appears! So the CD even fails to issue the album in its original form. Even the artwork of "Crazy Times" used is not the original mono version cover. On the plus side, the technical quality is good, "Darlene" being marginally better in my opinion than on the Box Set, and the issue comes with three bonus tracks "Lotta Lovin'", "Wear My Ring" and "Dance To The Bop".

If the blame is to be laid for the deficiencies in these issues, most can probably be laid at the door of Capitol EMI, rather than Collectables, but they too should have done their homework better.

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