Customer Reviews

Oh How We Danced / Whale Meat Again

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After many years of deletion of the two separate CDs on Edsel Records, this release now is a great joy for all fans of Jim Capaldi. Unfortunately the sound quality is really a bad joke. Instead of what the booklet and the sticker on the jewel case suggests ("Superb Audio Quality"), the CD sounds poorer than the separate CDs on Edsel Records from 1991. If you like good Sound Quality: Save your bucks and look for the Edsel Records Editions.

Finally, after being out of print for years, Raven Records has reissued Jim Capaldi's first two solo records on one disc. First up, Oh How We Danced which has been a favourite since I first heard it back in the '70's. It features all Traffic members from Welcome to the Canteen era (Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, Ric Grech, and Jim Gordon) plus future members like Barry Beckett alongside Free guitarist Paul Kossoff among others. The album while having a few rockers mostly manages a nice laid back vibe and you can almost feel the smile. The songs are all really good with the exception with one which is just good. Whale Meat Again isn't my favourite but it isn't bad either and had more than a few stand out songs on it. In fact, alot of people prefer Whale Meat over Danced so to each his/her own. Hopefully, Raven will continue to reissue more of Jim's albums on cd.

I first got a hold of " Oh How We Danced " back in the 70's and fell in love with his guitar work. He had to be one of the best around along, with Robin Trower. I still have the album but being also a cat lover it has its fair share of scratches. I would recommend this album to anyone with a touch of romance in their hearts. Just give it a couple of listens and it really grows on you. "Whale Meat Again" was new to me but it hasn't taken me too long for me to re-iterate my previous comment.

Jim Capaldi was much more than Traffic's drummer/lyricist and occasional vocalist as his solo albums prove; two of his finest "Oh How We Danced/Whale Meat Again" have been reissued by Raven on one disc. The good news is that these are available again after the Edsel editions of both albums have gone out of print on CD however if you want a good sounding version of those albums, I'd suggest trying to dig up copies of both of these on that label. There's noticeable compression on the CD as well as peak limiting applied.

Capaldi's distinctive tenor was a contrat to his looks; he looked like he had would have a deep, gruff voice and until I saw him play with Traffic I always thought he was much taller than Steve Winwood kind of a big brute--what his handsome, distinctive but rough looking face hid was a sensitive soul and terrific songwriter/singer in his own right.

This two albums on one CD release suffers from the multitude of sins that have plagued CDs well over the past decade; the albums suffer from peak limiting and both have a very narrow dynamic range. If you are an audiophile you may find thse painful to listen to particularly for the second album the punny titled "Whale Meat Again" (after the final track "We'll Meet Again")where the bass has been goosed and which cause distortion even on a cheap car system. That doesn't mean that they are impossible to listen to but you should keep in mind that they have been mastered with mp3's and ipods in mind.

The first album offers a virtual Traffic reunion on "Open Your Heart" featuring the line up that would appear on "Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory" without Chris Wood; Wood however appears on "How Much Can A Man Really Take" adding his decorative flute and giving the song a distinctive Traffic flavor. The rest of the album reflects Capaldi's roots with his previous bands the Hellions and Deep Feeling Pretty Coloursand has a stronger R&B feel than his work with Traffic. All the material is quite strong demonstrating that Capaldi without Steve Winwood was a formidable talent on his own.

Is it worth picking this up? If you can find the Edsel CDs or vinyl of both albums and can do a needle drop I'd recommend both of those first. If you can't both of these are vital, strong and entertaining albums and, if you can overlook the mastering "mistakes", are essential.

If you can spring for the more recent boxed set Dear Mr Fantasy: Jim Capaldi StoryI'd go for that as the mastering is superior to what we get here.

The booklet has some nice but limited background on Capaldi, his musical career both in and out of Traffic and the recording credits/inner sleeve photos for this album.

The Raven reissue is recommended but with caution not because of teh albums themselves but because of the mastering.