Pat Travers / Feelin’ Right: The Polydor Albums 1975-1984

Just have heard this release. Shame for the wrong track numbers on the back. Also strange that Putting It Straight and Makin’ Magic are in wrong order. A pity also that Crash & Burn is missing. In the liner notes this album is prominent mentioned. Why not release this with C & B and leave the live album out to release that album in expanded 79 minuye version (!). For the rest: great, great, great music! Sound and mastering: absolutely great. No brickwalling or what so ever. Price: a bargain! Conclusion: finaly a good CD set to hear the early Pat Travers and his band. Thanks.

What would make me buy this again? I would imagine many contributors here ask this question to themselves often. For me, it isn’t about blu-ray or 5.1 as I don’t have the equipment, but more about the rarities, hidden gems and oddities that shed new light on a favorite record and bring me back to a time long, long ago. I had this on record, I had the CD, I have the Further Listening edition, I had the singles, domestic and import, even the EMI-America Arthur Baker Suburbia promo 12″! I now have the album and Further Listening on Spotify. I don’t even need physical product anymore – so what will entice me to buy this again? The reissue of Please has to be definitive – something most deluxe editions lack. So many lack some track – these comment threads are filled with missing this and missing that comments. Please Definitive (possible title?) must be more than just a selection of CDs in a fold-out, standard paper case. I envision something larger than the recent Songs From The Big Chair super deluxe – something larger to capture the era-defining graphic design – the album sleeves (outer and inner), the singles sleeves, the labels, the photos, the adverts (unique designs found in magazines of the time such as No. 1) along with all of the music that the album held and spawned (7″ edits, dance mixes, dubs, b-sides), demos, unreleased songs recorded at the time, the contents of the “Television” VHS, the “Disco” album, other tv highlights and interviews (both on video and audio only). A large format box would allow for a book to display the graphic design – done in such a way ad to compliment their coffee table book from a while back. Was the first issue of Literally issued at this time? Reproduce it and include it. Include everything, because as many here suggest in their posts, this is it. This is the end of an era – where there are enough folks still excited about a physical product. I doubt there will be a 40th or 50th anniversary opportunity to produce an artifact. Don’t hold back Neil and Chris. Other posters make great points about not reissuing on vinyl, I don’t need blu-ray or 5.1, I don’t have the equipment. One side note: Would love for this to incorporate all of the Bobby Orlando, ZYX label tracks as they provide true insight into the creative process. Neil and Chris would do well to be 100% involved in this, ask for fan input, and listen to the final master (no repressing!). Wow us, please!

The Canadian & German pre-order links to Amazon (at the top of this page) lead to a track listing that has the live album in its correct place, chronologically.

I too, would have loved “Crash And Burn” included. This exclusion makes this an incomplete “Polydor Albums 1975-1984” release.

If these sound as good as “The Essential Collection”, released on “Repertoire”, I’ll be very happy.

Crash and Burn was when Travers fell out with Polydor. They didn’t promote it well, and it was basically the farewell to that part of his career. It also was the time when the Travers/Thrall/Aldridge part of the band dissolved (not forgetting Mars, but he had been with Travers since the start). It’s amazing it’s as good as it is, actually.

The odd one is Hot Shots. I don’t recall ever seeing the original release in the UK. I’m not saying it wasn’t out there, but I certainly never got it. I have the needle drop, and it’s a low point to be honest. Radioactive is excellent though, and would have made a good companion for Crash and Burn. I think Go for What You Know should come before Hot Shots on the CD, but it’s not a deal breaker.

I own Black Pearl on Vinyl, another classic….. Saw Travers live at the time of Go… at the Hammersmith Odean. It’s one of two concerts I consider the best shows I’ve seen (the other being Talking Heads on the Stop Making Sense tour). Travers BURNED live, and with Thrall it was simply blistering. He had the audience in the palm of his hands the whole time. Amazing times.

And I think you’re being harsh, Robert. No doubt Paul is basing his article on information provided by the label, he can’t be an expert in everything. That he took the time to find out this information for us, and to post it, deserves kudos. I’m surprised they’re cramming this amount of music into a box and selling it so cheaply. Travers fans would have gladly bought individual discs. But I guess it’s a sign of the times.

This is pretty ironic as I just interviewed Pat for a book I am writing the other day.

We talked about a lot of things, some of them pretty damn funny and others very cool about his career.

As for this set, I got back in touch and he had no idea about it and said he and Polydor did not part on good terms years ago and he has no rights to the music.

I let him know that it seems to finally be in good hands with Polydor/UMe almost always doing well by the music.

And Andy Pearce is one of the very best. The brickwalling comment was baffling to me as he has remastered some of my favorite bands (Rainbow, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash and my favorite Thin Lizzy), but to each his own.

Pat Travers live album is called GO FOR WHAT YOU KNOW,not WHAT YOU WANT ,get it right .It seems the article is littered with errors.

The writer of the article needs chastising to say the least

I hope that “Go For What You Want” is a typo from Paul Sinclair & NOT by Polydor….. also the year is wrong…. it’s ’79 not ’78!! How embarrassing!! Please get it right before printing!! Thanks

Pat Travers what can i say, having a look at the best of box set and selected albums can’t believe how busy he has been the last couple of years
with the release of 2 studio and 2 live albums with a companion live in concert dvd and yet another live album due this or next month and the above inclusive, i am with you Dean he may not have been a “household”
name but gee as far as i an concerned he’s an incredible player, i too am
a little surprised that “Crash & Burn” his break through album is not included but the icing on the cake is the killer live album with Pat Thrall.
Could they have done various formats? including bd etc in 5.1?

Good to know, James. Either way I’ve pre-ordered.

It also should be mentioned, the live album “Go for What You Know” (not go for what you WANT) isn’t a recording you’d want to miss. The version of Boom Boom Out Go the Lights is extraordinary. You’ve simply got to have it!

I also look at the way they’re done their two-fers here – and I’m going to reverse myself. I wrote earlier that it might have been better to go chronologically, but I now think they’ve got it right. A single CD with both Makin Magic and Heat in the Street is too monstrous a prospect – how perfect is that?!? Also, the debut album and Puttin It Straight are a better match than any other, they sound more alike that the debut and Makin Magic would. Radioactive and Black Pearl is also a perfect match.

No – they have it right, imo. I’m a huge fan of this music, and I can’t say a big enough THANK YOU to the people putting this together and getting it done. It’s enough to bring a tear to a mans eyes.

Brickwalled? Which Andy Pearce masterings are you basing this on? He is hands down the best mastering engineer for rock music in this country. Thin Lizzy, Dio, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Y&T, Magnum to name a few examples of superb, dynamic, punchy sounding remasters. I have yet to hear any of his work that I don’t like so roll on this one, I’m in!

I don’t have any complaints here. This material has been VERY poorly treated up until this point.

Okay so it could be better – Chronological ordering. The book style presentation (as the Tull’s are). And with Crash and Burn. But honestly, this is a budget release, and we’re getting to hear this finally in something other than as a needle drop.

On Crash and Burn – the early Pat Travers albums recently came out as Mini LP’s in Japan. Strangely I was on Amazon the other week and the Crash and Burn SHM was down to £10 new. I ordered it thinking it was a mistake, but the real deal showed up. Also – Crash and Burn was one of the few early albums that got a proper CD release back in the 90’s, and I can tell you that sounded great. It was the 2004 releases that are best avoided. I think you’ll be able to plug that hole okay. I don’t think these albums are particularly well suited to the Mini LP format, since few of them included any inserts (Nothing in the first album, a lyric sheet in Makin Magic, Puttin It Staight, and Heat in the Street, and that’s it!) I’ve not played the SHM yet though – and this entire set is selling for less than one SHM release!

The first album contains my favorite version of JJ Cale’s Magnolia. And Makin’ Magic is worth the price of admission alone.

Here’s hoping the mastering is good, because given the shameful release history of these, this might well be the last chance of a decent version on physical media.

Thanks for looking into this, Paul – much appreciated, and one pre-order in place.

Excellent value but why is Crash & Burn missing? I’d rather have C&B instead of the live album if it’s a space issue.

That cover is the same as the cover for the seven inch version of Boom Boom.

With Andy Pearce mastering it, you can be sure it will be brickwalled!