Being a member of "Platenclub
Utrecht", a record club of 7 Dutch collectors who aren't just collecting
records
but also are releasing them, my original plan about this Sloan-project was to
make it a booklet and a vinyl EP.
But soon it turned out to be very hard, if not impossible, to pick out only 4
songs from that reservoir of rarities,
so in the end the choice between 4 tracks on vinyl and about 25 tracks on a CDR
wasn't too difficult.
As the title of this project "Take him for what he's worth" was
derived from Take me for
what I'm worth the
CDR begins and ends with that song. Track 1 comes from the Trousdale sampler
"What's going on here?".
According to the sleeve it should be a Sloan & Barri
demo, but probably it's the same take as the version on
Sloan's debut-LP and just a different mix with the voice in the middle instead
of the left channel.
Tracks 2-5 are the a- and b-sides of 2 rare singles from 1959 and 1960 when
Sloan wasn't called P.F. yet.
All I want is loving
and Little girl in the cabin
are by Flip, If you believe
in me and She's
my girl are by Phil.
Track 6 There's something
about you has only be released by Terry Black on his LP "The
Black plague"
and the b-side of his single "Rainbow", but when you listen carefully
it's obvious this Sloan-composition is
not sung by that Canadian singer but by the composer himself!
Track 7 That's cool, that's
trash is good "gar(b)age" with a great guitar. There
seems to be no difference
between this Sloan & Barri-acetate and the Street Cleaners-single, except
for the end. Just like the cover by
The Kingsmen the acetate ends with a stuttering "It's garbage, folks"
(It even sounds like the same guy!).
Maybe unfortunately for you, you won't find anything from Sloan's swim or surf
period on this CDR, but the
demos from that time just can't beat the demos from his folk-rock and singer-
songwriter period. Half of this
CDR, tracks 8-20, should have appeared on "Child of our times / The
Trousdale demo sessions 1965-1967".
This CD was announced by Varese Sarabande in 1997 and 1998, but despite the
fact it already had a number
(VSD-5825) it has not been released. Together with Sloan's first 2 solo-albums
"Songs of our times" and
"Twelve more times" and the Grass Roots debut "Where were you
when I needed you" it would have been
the perfect quartet. The Sloan & Barri-demos You baby and Can I get to know you better come from the
Trousdale promo "What's going on here?", the other tracks are
previously unreleased. Why? Don't ask me!
Especially the title song Child
of our times is a masterpiece. When these 13 originals would have
been
released on one LP in the sixties, it surely would be a candidate for the title
of best Sloan-album ever.
Track 21 Autumn
is my favourite Trousdale demo that was not scheduled on the "Child of our
times"-CD.
Track 22 I can't help but
wonder, Elizabeth found a place on this CDR for a very subjective
reason as well.
It's the only official release from the Dunhill days I didn't have on
7"/LP/CD yet. An objective reason for its
inclusion could be it's the bridge between the folk-rock and singer-songwriter
years. Or the beautiful bass.
After his 4th solo-LP "Raised on records" nothing was heard from
Sloan for more than a decade until 1985,
when he did a couple of come back concerts in the Bottom Line in New York and
started to record again.
Track 23 Eve of destruction
1990 (The environment) is a re-recording by Sloan of his most
famous song.
And again it was Barry McGuire who released it. You can find it on the Wildlife
Fund CD "El Dorado".
Track 24 combines the intro of Secret
agent man from Sloan's 1993-CD "Serenade of the seven
sisters" with
Danger man, a
vocal demo by Sloan & Barri from 1965 (their demo of Secret agent man is an
instrumental).
Tracks 25-27 are "Trousdale classics revisited", recorded by Sloan in
April 1997 with just his acoustic guitar.
Finally I'd like to thank Tony Fitton for discussing the tracks with me.
Without a doubt this resulted in the best
track listing you can think of with 27 rare singles and unreleased demos. Take
them for what they're worth!
Rob Kopp - We are the PSPS, the Phil Sloan Preservation Society
next page: Discography
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