1183 - PATTO - Monkey's Bum (2002)

PATTO
''MONKEY'S BUM''
2002
AKARMA
37:12
DOWNLOAD

1/My Days Are Numbered/Halsall, Patto/5:10
2/The Dream I Had Last Night/Newman/1:50
3/Sugar Cube 1967/Patto/4:06
4/I Need You/Halsall/3:27
5/Good Friend/Patto/3:43
6/Get Up and Do It/Patto/3:08
7/Sausages/Halsall/4:11
8/Hedyob/Halsall, Patto/5:08
9/Pick Up the Phone/Patto/3:11
10/General Custer/Halsall, Patto/3:18

Clive Griffiths/Bass
Ollie Halsall/Guitar, Keyboards
John Halsey/Drums, Percussion
Mike Patto/Piano (Electric), Vocals

1182 - OLLIE HALSALL With JOHN HALSEY - Abbots Langley (2010)

OLLIE HALSALL WITH JOHN HALSEY
''ABBOTS LANGLEY''
JAN 2008
MARKET SQUARE
40:12
DOWNLOAD

1/Bum Love/1:02
2/Monkey on My Back/3:04
3/Marietta's Pizzas No. 1/0:32
4/Don't Understand/3:40
5/This One's for Me/3:39
6/Marietta's Pizzas No. 2/0:34
7/Seven Days/4:33
8/Time Is by My Side/2:55
9/We Want Out/3:11
10/Marietta's Pizzas No. 3/0:30
11/Roll Around/3:32
12/Seven Days/2:46
13/We Want Out/3:38
14/Run/3:57
15/Shame Shame/2:39

Ollie Halsall/Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals
John Halsey/Drums, Percussion

1174 - OLLIE HALSALL - Caves (2000)

OLLIE HALSALL
''CAVES''
NOV 2000
MARKET SQUARE
DOWNLOAD

1/Hey, Hey, Little Girl/Halsall/2:16
2/Come on, Let's Go/Halsall/2:28
3/Back Against the Wall/Halsall/3:47
4/Crazy When I Fall in Love/Halsall/3:22
5/Door to Door Daughter/Halsall/2:48
6/Travelling Show/Halsall/3:07
7/Lovers Leaping/Halsall/4:02
8/Stepping Out/Halsall/3:45
9/You Need a Friend/Halsall/2:47
10/First Day in New York/Halsall/3:18
11/Airplane Food/Halsall/3:03
12/Summertime Kids/Halsall/3:46

REVIEW
by Ralph Heibutzki
Guitarist Peter "Ollie" Halsall truly found himself at a low ebb when he recorded these multi-instrumental demos in 1979. Cancer had claimed old collaborator Mike Patto, the beloved frontman for their underrated prog rock band of the same name. Attempts at bottling heavy rock lightning with Boxer had met with similar indifference, while Halsall walked away from a short-lived stint in the Glitter Band with only a star-shaped guitar for his trouble. Halsall was reportedly subsisting without amenities like electricity and phone service, when he knocked out these songs on borrowed (!) equipment. His defiant eclectic streak nods to '50s rock ("Hey, Hey, Little Girl"), Bo Diddley-styled rave-ups ("Door to Door Daughter"), rockabilly ("First Day in New York"), and pop ("Come on Let's Go"). Slinky guitar wizardry abounds on "Lovers Leaping" and "Back Against the Wall"'s winsome moodiness ("Take me away from here/I need a change of atmosphere"). However, the emphasis is less on Halsall the musician; his songs show greater self-awareness than presumed by the chroniclers of his dissipation. The ballad "Traveling Show" captures Halsall's life as well as any article ever could ("Traveling show/I just go/New York, Paris and Rome"), as does "Stepping Out" ("All they know is that I'm weird/That I drink too much"). In another universe, Halsall would have hit the jackpot with the sprightly almost-new wave of "Summertime Kids," or the heart-stopping guitar pyrotechnics that brighten "Airplane Food"'s neo-boogie goofiness. In some ways, serendipity might have been a curse for Halsall, because the tapes weren't meant for an album -- yet the only reason they exist is because his fellow wildman John Otway still had them. The result is a fascinating glimpse behind the unassuming sideman persona commonly associated with Halsall.

1131 - BOXER - Below The Belt (1975)

BOXER
"BELOW THE BELT"
1975
EMI MUSIC DISTRIBUTION
DOWNLOAD

1/Shooting Star/Patto, Halsall/3:53
2/All the Time in the World/Halsall/4:23
3/California Calling/Patto, Halsall/4:40
4/Hip Kiss/Patto, Halsall, Ellis, Newman/3:10
5/More Than Meets the Eye/Patto/5:04
6/Waiting for a Miracle/Halsall/5:01
7/Loony Ali/Patto, Halsall/3:55
8/Save Me/Patto/3:31
9/Gonna Work Out Fin/Patto, Halsall/5:49
10/Town Drunk/Stamp, Avery/5:05

Keith Ellis/Bass
Ollie Halsall/Guitar, Keyboards
Tony Newman/Drums
Mike Patto/Keyboards, Vocals
Chris Stainton/Keyboards

1130 - TIMEBOX Featuring Mike Patto & Ollie Halsall - The Deram Anthology (1998)

TIMEBOX FEATURING MIKE PATTO & OLLIE HALSALL
''THE DERAM ANTHOLOGY''
1998
DECCA
COMPILATION
DOWNLOAD

1/Gone Is the Sad Man/Halsall, Patto
2/Barnabus Swain/Halsall, Patto
3/Treehouse/Halsall, Patto
4/Leave Me to Cry/Halsall, Patto
5/Don't Make Promise/Halsall, Patto
6/Yellow Van/Halsall, Patto
7/You've Got the Chance/Halsall, Patto
8/Real Good Thing/Simone
9/Beggin'/Farina, Gaudio
10/Black Dog/Halsall, Patto
11/Baked Jam Roll in Your Eye/Halsall, Patto
12/Stay There/Halsall, Patto
13/A Woman That's Waiting/McCarthy, Zagni
14/Eddie McHenry/Halsall, Patto
15/Poor Little Heartbreaker/Halsall, Patto
16/Country Dan and City Lil/Halsall
17/Promises/Halsall, Patto
18/Come on Up/Cavaliere
19/Love the Girl/Halsall, Patto
20/Girl Don't Make Me Wait/Huff
21/Walking Through the Streets of My Mind/Hess, Milrose
22/Timebox/Halsall, Patto
23/Waiting for the End/Halsall, Patto
24/Misty/Carmichael

REVIEW
by Jon "Mojo" Mills/ALLMUSIC
Timebox's 1968 blue-eyed soul take on the Four Seasons' "Beggin'" may be the most known of their Deram output, but it is on other recordings from 1967-1969 -- all featured on this album -- that their unique style is defined. Both sides of the fives singles Deram released are featured, including the soul-meets-Summer of Love ode "Walking Through the Streets of My Mind"; a perfect approximation of Philly Soul, "Girl, Don't Make Me Wait"; the haunting Beatlesque psychedelia of "Gone Is the Sad Man"; through to the novelty pop of "Baked Jam Roll in You Eye"; and its ferocious hard-rocking, almost punk, flip "Poor Little Heartbreaker." All of these, and the remaining singles sides, are very, very good! But the real meat of this collection, however, is to be found among the unreleased sessions that were meant to make up a 1968 album. Here, the magic of the Patto/Halsall songwriting partnership clearly comes to light. And astoundingly over half of the 24 tracks on this album consist of these often bootlegged wonders. "Barnabus Swain," "Tree House," and "Eddie McHenry" all fit in neatly with the finest pop-psych sides of the era. Whereas the later, hard rock numbers "Black Dog," "Stay There," and "Timebox" are the perfect vehicle for Hallsall's coarse lead guitar and Patto's soulful voice, while more straight-ahead pop, instrumental jazz, and rock are tackled with as much verve and passion. The Deram Anthology is a wonderful testament to Patto and Halsall -- now both dead -- and should help put Timebox in the top league of 1960s rock, which they so much deserve.