The Sorrows - Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red: The Complete Sorrows (@320)

 

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The Sorrows - Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red: The Complete Sorrows

 Review by Mark Deming.

Though they were little known in the United States (where none of their recordings were ever released), the Sorrows were one of the more interesting acts to rise from the British Beat scene of the 1960s.With their unabashed force, the Sorrows were in a league with the Kinks and the Pretty Things, playing tough, menacing, R&B-infused rock with a suitably resonant vocalist in Don Fardon and a wiry but incisive guitarist in Philip "Pip" Whitcher. They also had a very unusual career trajectory -- their star began to fade in England after their 1965 hit "Take a Heart" ran its course, but they went on to have a second act in Italy, where they became stars singing phonetically. The Sorrows made more than their share of great records between 1963 and 1969, and all of them are included on Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red: The Complete Sorrows, a four-disc set that, as the title suggests, brings together their entire recorded output, as well as some previously unheard material. From a historical standpoint, the sheer depth of this set is welcome, as it tells us all there is to know about the Sorrows, and a bit more. However, as a listening experience, this bogs down the program, with enough chaff to thin out the wheat. The first two discs tell the story well, featuring their run of singles for Pye's Piccadilly label, their debut album (1965's Take a Heart), and the Italian and German-language singles that led to their popularity in Europe. Disc three opens with the band's second LP, 1969's Old Songs New Songs, recorded in Italy near the end of their run and finding them devoting as much time to covering Traffic and Family as their own material, as well as inadvertently proving they were much better playing R&B than embryonic prog rock. The disc is rounded out with Italian single sides and post-Sorrows recordings from the Eggy and Renegade, while disc four has an album-length demo that features the flaws of Old Songs New Songs in magnified form, and closes with a potent 11-song recording of a 1980 Sorrows reunion show, which is mostly good enough to overcome its iffy fidelity, but not always. Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red has been assembled with obvious love and care, and the liner notes from David Wells are a complete and well-written history of the band, and the deep dive into the material would be ideal if this band had been more consistent in their latter years. Pink, Purple, Yellow & Red: The Complete Sorrows is a treat for fans obsessed with the group; for those who are less loyal, play the first two discs and save the others for a day you're feeling generous.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

1.           I Don't Wanna Be Free

2.           Come with Me

3.           Baby

4.           Teenage Letter

5.           Take a Heart

6.           We Should Get Along Fine

7.           You've Got What I Want

8.           No, No, No, No

9.           Let the Live Live

10.         Don't Sing No Sad Songs for Me

11.         Let Me In

12.         How Love Used to Be

13.         Pink Purple Yellow and Red

14.         My Gal

15.         She's Got the Action

16.         Cara-Lin

17.         Come with Me

18.         Gonna Find a Cave

19.         I Take What I Want

20.         Baby All the Time

21.         Baby

22.         Matchbox

23.         Hoochie Coochie Man

24.         Don't Start Me Talkin'

25.         Georgia on My Mind

26.         Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

 Disc 2:

1.           Baby

2.           No, No, No, No

3.           Take a Heart

4.           She's Got the Action

5.           How Love Used to Be

6.           Teenage Letter

7.           I Don't Wanna Be Free

8.           Don't Sing No Sad Songs for Me

9.           Cara-Lin

10.         We Should Get Along Fine

11.         Come with Me

12.         Let Me In

13.         Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso No. 1

14.         Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso No. 2

15.         Ypotron

16.         Zabadak

17.         Which Way

18.         My Way of Thinking

19.         Nimm Mein Herz

20.         Sie War Mein Girl

21.         Mi Si Spezza il Cuore

22.         Vivi

23.         La Liberta Costa Cara

24.         Verde, Rosso, Giallo, Blu

25.         No, No, No, No

 

Disc 3:

1.           Same Old Road

2.           Hey Mr.Policeman

3.           Heaven Is in Your Mind

4.           Mary J

5.           Hey Hey

6.           The Makers

7.           Io Amo Te Per Lei

8.           Dear Mr.Fantasy

9.           Rollin' Over

10.         Per Una Donna..No!

11.         6 ft 7 1/2 Inch Shark Fishing Blues

12.         Old Song New Songs

13.         Per Una Donna..No!

14.         Armore Limone

15.         Hey Hey

16.         6 ft 7 1/2 Inch Shark Fishing Blues

17.         Hookey

18.         You're Still Mine

19.         Armchair King

20.         You're Still Mine-The Eggy

21.         Hookey-The Eggy

22.         A Little Rock 'n' Roll-Renegade

23.         My Revolution-Renegade

Disc 4:

1.           Hey Hey

2.           New York Mining Disaster 1941

3.           Answer My Questions

4.           Dear Mr.Fantasy

5.           We Can Work it Out

6.           The Makers

7.           Heaven Is in Your Mind

8.           Dogs and Cats

9.           Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

10.         Move Da Show

11.         Matchbox/Rock and Roll Music

12.         Baby What You Want Me to Do

13.         Bye Bye Bird

14.         Let Me In

15.         What'd I Say

16.         Dizzy Miss Lizzy

17.         No Reply

18.         A Little Rock 'n' Roll

19.         5-4-3-2-1

20.         Take a Heart

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