Taking Out Time: Complete Recordings (1967-1969) ~ CD ~ Spencer Davis Group

Disc One features their 1967 singles recorded with Winwood replacements Phil Sawyer and Eddie Hardin, including the pop sike classics ‘Time Seller’ and ‘Mr Second Class’. Also their recordings used in the film soundtrack “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush”. The second half of Disc One comprises their 1968 single and album recorded with Sawyer’s repla­cement Ray Fenwick, who brought with him the excellent ‘After Tea’ (co-written with Dutch Tee Set pop master Hans Van Eijck). Album With Their New Face On is a mix of jazzy R&B and pop psychedelia. The standout R&B track is ‘Don’t Want You No More’, which was later covered by The Allman Brothers. Disc Two boasts their rare, Germany-only single, and the US only LP Funky recorded in 1969 by Fenwick and Davis plus Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray (just before they joined Elton John). Also included is the theme to the TV show Magpie, originally recorded in 1968, and the groovy, heavy psych single ‘Short Change’. RPM is pleased to finally be able to serve up previously unreleased BBC Sessions, recorded through 1968 around the promotion of With Their New Face On. These are coupled on Disc Three with live tracks and other rarities for which tapes have been archived, plus interesting alternative versions discovered down the years. This 3CD clamshell packaged box set is crammed full of fascinating details in booklet notes from Andy Neill, photo’s from various archives, and input from original members Ray Fenwick, Pete York and Spencer Davis.