LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

A bona-fide amazing cult British album brought back to life! Not often that happens! By the early 1970's....Liverpool was no longer the "Beat City" of legend....it was rather down, the hangover of those days made worse by the early '70's drabness we all remember so well...... Jimmy Campbell, poet laureate of Liverpool, had already made a major left turn....from the melancholy psychedelia of The 23rd Turnoff to the even more downbeat, tell-it-like-it-is, stark acoustic sound of his solo debut Son Of Anastasia....but he was about to make another, more significant turn...one which would nowadays be applauded as a stroke of genius, but which then was greeted like something akin to Dylan going electric by a press averse to nostalgic power pop of the Badfinger variety.... Teaming up with lifelong mate and ex-Merseybeat Billy Kinsley, Jimmy formed Rockin' Horse...the intention being, if the lyrical concerns were becoming increasingly bleak and inward-looking, they would be framed by the sounds of LIVE Merseybeat...pre-record deals, pre-everything!....The sound of pals playing the Mersey R&B/girl group repertoire in someone's mum's back room....amps on HP, bottles of Double Diamond on the sideboard and harmonies aiming for Phil Everly... Did they make it?....um, maybe...but that's not the point! Recorded almost live in the studio, the album succeeded so well in it's aim that today it sounds like the soundtrack to some forgotten Mike Leigh-esque movie classic...*then* it utterly baffled the UK media, who considered it some sort of perverse throwback....well, today we all know better.....today we might finally be ready for Jimmy Campbell and Billy Kinsley's crowning glory....ROCKIN' HORSE! **The full album plus attendant singles, b-sides and tracks rescued from long-forgotten samplers...for the first time, the COMPLETE Rockin' Horse project! **Never before released on CD anywhere in the world! **Lavish sleeve with many unpublished photos, full notes and a new interview with Billy Kinsley! **Contains their first single "Biggest Gossip In Town", often cited as the first and best power pop record ever! **A must for fans of Jimmy Campbell and Billy Kinsley, obviously!....but also for all lovers of great pop and thoughtful lyrics...great songwriting and great playing.....fans of Liverpool beat and all it implies will NOT be disappointed....and Beatles fans may well find themselves raving about Rockin' Horse! Biggest Gossip In Town / Oh Carol, I'm So Sad / You're Spending All My Money / Baby Walk Out With Your Darlin' Man / Don't You Ever Think I Cry / Yes It Is / Stayed Out Late Last Night / Delicate Situation / Son, Son / Golden Opportunity / I'm Trying To Forget You / Julian The Hooligan BONUS TRACKS: Biggest Gossip In Town (mono 45 mix) / You Say / Julian The Hooligan (mono 45 mix) / Stayed Out Late Last Night (mono 45 mix) / Frankie Joe / Lonely Norman