The Riot Squad - I Take It That We’re Through – Anthology 1965-1967

The Riot Squad was formed by singer/guitarist Ron Ryan in December 1964.  The band was together for five years and released seven singles, but over that time they went through a multitude of lineups with saxophonist and flautist Robert Evan Horton (Bob Evans) being the only member to participate in all of their recording sessions (he had also left the band before it came to an end in the Summer of 1969).  A couple of the band’s most notable members were David Bowie, who was in the band for about three months in 1967, and original drummer Mitch Mitchell who went on to play with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and then was a member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  Now with the release of their new three disc box set I Take It That We’re Through – Anthology 1965-1967, the a and b sides of those singles have been joined by forty cuts from Joe Meek’s Tea Chest Tape Sessions, sessions recorded for It’s A Riot, an album with Glenda Collins that was never finished due to Meek’s death, two tracks from a newly discovered acetate and an unreleased song featuring female vocalist Flip (Vivienne Chering) produced by Joe Meek).  There are also four demos recorded with Bowie and the 1967 acetate album Making Up For Lost Time (both of these were released on vinyl in 2013, but are on CD here for the first time). All the tracks have been newly mastered, and forty-one of the eight-three are previously unreleased with fourteen more never on CD.

The box set kicks off with the fourteen tracks that comprised their seven singles.  The first three were mostly jazzy soul and r&b, often upbeat and bouncy, that are reminiscent of what Georgie Fame was also doing at that time.  When single number four came around they had an almost completely new lineup and started working with Joe Meek as producer, so “Cry Cry Cry” and “How It Is Done” had traces of that earlier sound but were more in the beat pop vein.  With its fuzz guitar, the next single “I Take It That We’re Through” is a great song that dips into freakbeat with the psychedelic garage rock of “Working Man” on the flipside.  “It’s Never Too Late” was the sixth single and moved in more of a pop direction with a driving beat, while “Try To Realise” was a great R&B track with some Beach Boys-like harmonies and even a little flute and keys.  Their final single was “Gotta Be A First Time” backed with “Bitter Sweet Love” (catchy enough to be an a-side) a couple of bouncy pop-tinged garage rock tracks. Next up is an acetate that was recorded in 1965 and has never been issued before.  The two cuts are “Monkey Man," a 1963 hit for Major Lance that was written by Curtis Mayfield and "Monkeying Around," originally written and recorded by William Bell in 1963.  Both of these songs were also on Georgie Fame's 1964 album Fame At Last, and these versions sound quite similar to his.  The remainder of disc one and all of disc two consist of a variety of tracks (many with multiple takes) from the Tea Chest Tapes, many of them previously unreleased.  Along with several songs that were never released by the band including a ragged R&B cover of Arthur Conley’s “Who’s Fooling Who,” three takes of “Walking On Ice,” most likely once considered for a single, “Wanna Lover,” written by Miki Dallon and at times strangely reminiscent of “Barbara Ann” from The Beach Boys, and instrumental covers of Herbie Mann’s flute driven jazz track “Comin’ Home Baby” and Booker T. and The M.G.’s organ led “Outrage.”  There are also newly discovered songs including “That’s Tough” and “If I Didn’t Love Her So,” a folk version of “It’s Never Too Late” and a flute version of “Try To Realise.”  Meek also used the band to back other artists.  These include “I Think I’m Falling In Love” and “Hush-A-Bye” with vocalist Flip (usually recorded with The Dateliners) and “I Beg To Heaven” with John Drysdale.

Disc three opens with twelve tracks that were for an album Meek was recording with The Riot Squad and Glenda Collins.  The tape boxes for these songs were listed as Glenda, Nero and The Riots and the album title was going to be It’s A Riot.  Nero (Keith Gladman) was The Riot Squad vocalist during the Joe Meek years of the band and sang lead on five tracks, all covers and primarily soul and R&B.  Collins also handled vocals on five tracks, but with more diversity than Nero.  These include “Magic Star” (a vocal version of the instrumental song “Telstar” that was written by Meek and a hit for the Tornados), an interesting version of “You’re Nobody Until Somebody Loves You” (most famously by Dean Martin) that takes it in more of a mod direction, “Lover Come Back To Me” (composed for the Broadway show The New Moon), a powerful, dramatic “I (Who Have Nothing)” and “Can I Get A Witness” (originally recorded by Marvin Gaye).  The final two tracks are Nero and Collins duets of “Dancing In The Street” and “Mockingbird.”  In March of 1967 David Bowie joined The Riot Squad for what ended up being just under two months.  He wasn’t interested in making it permanent, so they agreed that he would use them as his backing band and they would take advantage of his name.  They played several shows together and on April 5, about two months before his debut album would be released, they went in the studio and recorded four songs, which are a fascinating glimpse into his early days.  The Velvet Underground was an obvious influence on him with a cover of “I’m Waiting For My Man” and the Bowie original “Toy Soldier” which has alot of similarities to their song “Venus In Furs” (interestingly their debut album had just been released a month before these were recorded).  The other two tracks are the whimsical “Silver Tree Top School For Boys” (while never officially released by him this was actually covered by both The Slender Plenty and The Beatstalkers) and a stripped down take of “Silly Boy Blue,” which would appear on his debut album in a fuller, more produced version.  In October of 1967 the band recorded two sessions with producer Lee Magid.  These recordings were thought to be lost until Bob Evans licensed an acetate of the album and it was given an extremely limited (500 copies) vinyl release in 2013.  Now, with their inclusion here, they are available on CD for the first time.  They are a well selected and diverse collection of covers along with one original (possibly two since the writer of one is unknown) and it’s a real shame that they never saw the light of day when they were recorded, because it shows this late in the game version of band had a lot of potential.  First up is an energetic cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” followed by a psychedelic take on Denny Laine’s “Say You Don’t Mind” with a touch of funk and horns.  “Hours and Hours” is the uncredited track and is a solid mod/freakbeat track.  The next two songs, “The Vicar’s Daughter” (written by John Carter and Ken Lewis for their band Stamford Bridge) and the Bob Evans original “Old Black Car” are fun, theatrical and sound effects-laden, psychedelia-tinged pop.  Willie Mitchell’s “Everything Is Gonna Be Alright” is an funky soul cover with some freakbeat and garage rock elements (check out the guitar and organ), while The Creation’s “Making Time” sticks close to its freakbeat roots.  Their take on Bonnie Dopson’s folk tune “Morning Dew” is a really strong interpretation giving it more of a dramatic, upbeat rock edge. The versions of Bowie’s “Little Toy Soldier” (this time without him) and Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” are fairly close to the originals, although the latter has a horn accompaniment, and closing instrumental “Freaking Out” is a renamed, bluesy, acid rock cover of Memphis Slim’s “Steppin’ Out.”  The box set also contains a very informative twenty-eight page booklet and is highly recommended for fans and uninitiated alike.  

(Strawberry)