Patto and Halsall

[strawberrybrick]

And they're doing the "other two" as well, Roll Em Smoke Em and Monkey's Bum!

Cherry Red Records and their label Esoteric Recordings have entered into an agreement with the legendary band Patto, (John Halsey, Clive Griffiths and the estates of the late Mike Patto and Ollie Halsall), to officially reissue all of the albums recorded by the band between 1970 and 1973. The reissues will all be re-mastered and feature liner notes written by journalist Sid Smith and exclusive interviews with John Halsey. The booklets will also feature previously unseen photos and drawings by the band taken from John Halsey’s personal archive.

In addition, the releases will be expanded by the inclusion of BBC Sessions, all released with the approval of both the BBC and Patto.

This long overdue reappraisal of the band begins with the release on Esoteric Recordings of expanded versions of the albums “Patto” and “Hold Your Fire” on 28th April. They will be followed on 26th May with an expanded reissue of “Roll ‘Em Smoke ‘Em, Put Another Line Out” and the first ever official release of the album “Monkey’s Bum” (recorded in 1973 but never officially released).

The track listings are as follows:

PATTO: “Patto”

The Man
Hold Me Back
Time to Die
Red Glow
San Antone
Government Man
Money Bag
Sittin’ Back Easy

Bonus tracks:

Hanging Rope

Recorded and mixed at Island studios, London - 16th July 1970

Love Me
Government Man

BBC Radio One “Sounds of the 70s” session – 3rd November 1970
Previously unreleased

PATTO: “Hold Your Fire” (expanded 2 CD set)

CD One:


“Hold Your Fire” - Remastered

Hold Your Fire
You, You Point Your Finger
How’s Your Father
See You at the Dance Tonight
Give it All Away
Air Raid Shelter
Tell Me Where You’ve Been
Magic Door

Bonus tracks:

Beat the Drum
Bad News

Recorded & Mixed at Island Studios, London – 4th May 1971
CD Two:

San Antone
Government Man
Beat the Drum
Sittin’ Back Easy
So Cold

BBC Radio One “In Concert” – 4th March 1971
Previously unreleased

Give it All Away
Air Raid Shelter
You, You Point Your Finger

BBC Radio One “Sounds of the 70s” session – 28th June 1971
Previously unreleased

Don’t Shoot Me (“Hold Your Fire”) (first version)
Give it All Away (alternative version)
Air Raid Shelter (alternative version)

Recorded & Mixed at Island studios, London – 29th July 1971
Tracks 9 & 10 Previously unreleased

PATTO: “Roll ‘em, Smoke ‘em, Put Another Line Out”

Flat Footed Woman
Singing the Blues on Reds
Mummy
Loud Green Song
Turn Turtle
I Got Rhythm
Peter Abraham
Cap’n P and the Attos
Sea Biscuits parts One and Two

Bonus tracks:

General Custer
Flat Footed Woman
Singing the Blues on Reds

BBC Radio One John Peel session – 24th January 1973
Previously unreleased

PATTO: “Monkey’s Bum”

My Days Are Numbered
Last Night I Had a Dream
Sugar Cube 1967
I Need You
Good Friend
Get Up and Dig It
Sausages
Hedyob
Pick Up the Phone
General Custer

Bonus tracks:

San Antone
Holy Toledo
Loud Green Song

BBC Radio One John Peel session – 12th February 1973
Previously unreleased

[Boaz]

I'm so happy they are about to release 'monkey's bum' at last. It's a great album I was never able to put my hands on.
I used to have a copy by Akarma label but I believe it was a boot. The sound quality was horrible.

[Zaragon]

Timebox were one of the finest combos to emerge from the UK popsike scene. Judging by their body of recordings, they could have easily released two solid albums in the late '60s that would have rivaled the best long-players of Family, The Idle Race, The Move, early Spooky Tooth, etc.

The first Patto album brims with great songwriting and raw, experimental musicianship — definitely in my upper-tier of 1970 long-players. The following two albums don't sound nearly as inspired, though Monkey's Bum is a promising collection of demos for what could have been a return-to-form fourth release by the band.

Mike Patto was the perfect choice to replace Mike Harrison in Spooky Tooth, considering how the two parties had been fellow travelers since the mid-60s — mutually mining mod/soul (The Bo Street Runners; The VIPs), popsike (Timebox; Art/It's All About...), and experimental hard rock (Patto; Spooky Two-onward). Halsall, meanwhile, laid some of his finest fretwork down on Living In Fear, the second and best of the two albums by Jon Hiseman's Tempest.

Regrouping as Boxer, the Patto/Halsall pair achieved another creative milestone with Below the Belt — a set of tightly composed funky hard rock in the vein of The Streetwalkers. The third, Halsall-less Boxer recording, Absolutely, is another strong collection.

All in all, a talented pair that left the world too soon and were never given proper due in their own time.

[Pekka]

I pre-ordered all the Unicorn albums alongside the first two Patto cd's from Esoteric and they all arrived last friday 'though Patto's release date is still three weeks ahead! Ain't complainin'. Had a quick listen and the BBC Radio One “In Concert” – 4th March 1971 on the "HYF" second disc was especially great. Bernie Holland on additional guitar who clearly had his jazz chops together.

There's a slight error in the credits 'though as Bernie is credited playing guitar on all of the tracks on the 2bd disc even he plays only on that sessions (the first five tracks).

Thanks Vicky and Mark! I'll be pre-ordering the other two albums too.

[Pekka]

Hmm, there's one strange thing on the "Hold Your Fire" disc one. "Tell Me Where You've Been" isn't the original version but a different take with just one guitar track and a different vocal. Why was this used instead of the original as it is not mentioned on the cover? Was it intended as a bonus track and something went wrong?