Jess Roden - Hidden Masters: First Taste

It would appear that sales of the Jess Roden 6CD Anthology are going quite well. As I write this, PledgeMusic have achieved over 75% of their target pledges in little over a week. It is clear from the comments being left on the website that the Jess Roden fans out there are eagerly awaiting the eventual release of this item.

To whet our appetites and as a thank you for our pledges, a few of the tracks from the collection have been made available for us to stream. The first of these was an unreleased demo of 'Love Me' by The Alan Bown Set recorded on 19th December 1966. Using an arrangement similar to the underground hit by Billy Stewart, it was the first recording to feature new guitarist Tony Catchpole.

The second track 'Can't Get Next to You' features The Jess Roden Band playing live on a stormy night at London's Marquee Club on 20th May 1976. The accompanying notes detail how this version has been put together using parts from three different tapes that exist. The detail of the work that went into producing this version whilst retaining the essential live atmosphere is absolutely fascinating and the end result is awesome! This nine minute rendition of a song from the album 'Play it Dirty - Play it Class' is perhaps one of the best live recordings I've heard by anyone. As someone else has commented on the website, it sounds like Jess and the band are in the room with you. To quote someone else, "Oh this is very fantastic."

Finally (for now) we have been treated to 'In a Circle' a previously unreleased recording from sessions produced by Steve Smith that were long thought to have been lost or destroyed. Recorded by The Jess Roden Band at Island Studios in St Peter's Square, Hammersmith on 9th August 1975, this particular track also features Steve Winwood on Hammond organ. The sessions were to be for the first Jess Roden Band album, but sadly this was never released. Fortunately the tracks have been recovered thanks to great detective work by Neil Storey, and they will now feature on this much anticipated anthology.

All of the music released so far has been accompanied by very interesting and informative notes including many comments from Jess who has worked closely with Neil throughout the project. Consequently I am looking forward to reading the hardback book that will accompany the package, almost as much as the music itself.

As the pledges keep coming in, I look forward to more tracks slowly becoming available for our listening pleasure. It sounds like this is going to be an awesome collection.