Let’s cast our minds back (those of us who can anyway) to the heady days of 1971. For me, my memories of 1971 are a bit hazy not only because 1971 was over fifty-three years ago but also because I was only five years old at the time.
Even as a five-year-old I was already a huge Monkees fan (you can read several of my previous blog posts on that subject) and oddly enough I remember a few vinyl albums that came out that year especially one called “Davy Jones” that was released on Bell Records.
Bell Records in 1971 was also the home of one of my other favorite music groups of the era, The Partridge Family, so I was well primed for an album sung by one of The Monkees that had a distinct Partridge Family feel.
At the time I had no idea of the connection between Davy Jones and The Partridge Family and Bell Records all I knew is that I loved this album and truly adored the first single from the album “Rainy Jane”.
In fact my mother bought me the 45 of “Rainy Jane” way before I received the album. I think because of the fact that I played the single so much that my older sister threatened to take it and break in into tiny pieces may have influenced my mother to buy the entire album for me a few months later for my sixth birthday in January of 1972.
(Note: Bell Records was owned by Columbia Pictures who had made both “The Monkees” and “The Partridge Family” TV shows. Bell Records owned their catalogs and released both The Monkees and The Partridge Family recordings thus the connection between the two.
The reason that the “Davy Jones” album sounded more like The Partridge Family then The Monkees was that in 1971 The Partridge Family and David Cassidy, the show’s main draw, were big business and selling records at a phenomenal pace.
The producer of the “Davy Jones” album (Jackie Mills) also produced records by Bobby Sherman who was also a teen idol and huge at that time – thus the Partridge/teen idol sound of the “Davy Jones” lp, much to Davy Jones displeasure.)
So what do I remember of the “Davy Jones” album?
Well I remember that I thought at the time that it was good, very good in fact. I loved side one of the record but even at that age I thought it was a slight step down from The Monkees albums; very good but not great.
For some reason to this day I remember every note from side one of the album but I must have played side two a lot less as those songs don’t stick in my memory as much.
In fact the highlights of the album, for me, are all on side one with “Road to Love”, “Rainy Jane” and “Look at Me” being the standouts. “Look at Me” in particular is a haunting song that grows even more poignant with age. Written by Bread’s David Gates, who also wrote “Saturday’s Child” for The Monkees first album, this song is one of my all-time favorite songs from that era by anyone.
Also after hearing the opening track “Road to Love” I have an overwhelming feeling of hope; the remembrance of the hope of a child listening to this song for the first time. The sound of this track on this CD is worth the price of admission for sure.
Also, I do remember that the song “Say it Again” was featured in an episode of The Partridge Family but sung by then teens Andy and David Williams in a dreadful performance which makes Davy Jones version stand out even more.
Now, finally, here’s where 7a Records comes in.
This week I received their loving reissue of the “Davy Jones” album and I have to say as usual 7a Records has hit it out of the park. This CD sounds and looks great and contains some truly terrific liner notes.
The liner notes from this reissue give you a good feel of where Davy Jones was at in 1971 musically and his frustration with being saddled with what he considered weaker material and the teen idol type production of the times.
(Note 2: Two songs Davy Jones recorded as demos for Bell Records, “Man We Was Lonely” and “King Lonely the Blue”, were included on a previous 7a Records release called “Manchester Boy – Personal File”. These two songs which contained a much grittier, more adult pop/rock sound is the approach that Jones wanted to go with this Bell Records album before it was taken over by the Jackie Mills production.
There’s also a demo version of “Rainy Jane” for Bell Records produced in the same adult vein that smokes the Bell version but I still really love the Bell version as well. It’s too bad Davy Jones wasn’t allowed to take his music to a wider audience but this album still has its charms.)
I’ve reviewed a previous CD reissue of the “Davy Jones” album on this blog, a Blu-Spec issue from Japan, which was itself preceded by a wonderful CD release of this album on the Friday Music label. That first CD issue happened to have been put out with the co-operation of Davy Jones himself before he passed and has the same bonus tracks that are featured on this new 7a release.
Seeing as how the master tapes of the “Davy Jones” album are supposedly missing I don’t think the true US masters have ever been used to reissue this album. It sounds like the Friday Music CD was mastered from a vinyl source, though I don’t know for sure, and possibly the Blu-Spec CD from Japan on Arista came from a Japanese master for the album from the ’70s from Sony in Japan.
I think I read that this new 7a Records version comes from the Japanese master of “Davy Jones” so that would account for its lovely sound. I’d say that of the three CD versions of this album released that this one sounds the best. A slight improvement over the Japanese Blu-Spec CD with a bit fuller sound and a lovely bass sound on most tracks.
(Note 3: in my review of the Blu-Spec CD I wrote of the superior sound of the Arista Japanese CD as compared to the Friday Music version. I don’t know if it’s a case of the same source with better mastering or if it indeed came from a submaster from Japan but the Blu-Spec was crisper and sharper and this new 7a Records sounds much like that Arista blu-spec CD.)
I don’t know the source of the bonus tracks but they too sound great on all issues of this material so they may come from master tapes sources from Sony but I’m not sure.
All I can say is that this new CD version by 7a Records gets my vote for sound and packaging and is a great way to discover or rediscover this album.
Here’s the track list below and note that this reissue includes the classic song “Girl” which most boomers or fans of The Brady Bunch will remember from that classic Brady Bunch episode where Marcia gets Davy to go the prom with her.
Here’s the track list of the new 7a Records release:
1. Road To Love
2. How About Me
3. Singin’ To The Music
4. Rainy Jane
5. Look At Me
6. Say It Again
7. I Really Love You
8. Love Me For A Day
9. Sitting In The Apple Tree
10. Take My Love
11. Pretty Little Girl
12. Welcome To My Love
Bonus Tracks:
13. Girl (Mono)
14. I’ll Believe In You (Mono)
15. Take My Love (Mono)
16. Road To Love (Mono)
17. How About Me (Mono)
18. I Really Love You (Mono)
I don’t have the groovy colored vinyl version of this album that 7a Records has issued (yet) but I’m sure it’s just as good as the CD version and well worth adding to your collection if your a Davy Jones/Monkees fan or a fan of early ’70s pop.
Well, that’s all for now.
As usual take a look above at photos of this new 7a Records reissue. I can’t say anything more positive than listening to this CD put a smile on my face and you can’t put a price on that especially in the times we are living in now.
Be well and healthy and until next time, see you soon.
Records, CDs and Music: 